|
Chorus of religious voices opposed to war with Iraq growing louder
Episcopal News Service
Issue:
Section:
2003-040
By: James Solheim
Posted: Friday, February 21, 2003
|
As US troop build-up continues, and the threat of war with Iraq increases, the chorus of religious voices opposed to war is growing louder. Episcopalians are joining other Christians in protest marches, prayer services and peace fasts, trying to deal with a growing anxiety over the implications of war.
At a meeting in Chicago, Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold said in an interview with the Sun-Times that Americans are 'living with a level of anxiety, a sense of insecurity, which is bolstered now by the economic situation, the specter of war, and no sense of what the consequences of a military invasion of Iraq might be.'
He added, 'Listening to Anglican voices in the Middle East, it is clear to me that they sense it will be a complete destabilization of the entire Middle East. And what may be perceived here as a focused attack on one particular country is going to erupt into something involving the whole region, if not the whole world.'
Pope John Paul II again stated his opposition, arguing in a meeting with religious leaders from Indonesia that Christians, Muslims and other faithful should not let themselves be driven further apart by the threat of war. The delegation appealed to the pope to step up his diplomatic efforts to find a 'fair and peaceful solution' to the Iraqi crisis 'based on humanitarian and moral principles shared by all the religions of the world,' according to Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls.
A tragedy for religion
The pontiff has met recently with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz and German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer to explore how to avert war with Iraq, a Muslim country. A special papal envoy met with Saddam Hussein last week to press him to comply with U.N. disarmament resolutions.
'With the real possibility of war looming on the horizon, we must not permit politics to become a source of further division among the world's religions,' John Paul told the Indonesian delegation. 'As religious leaders committed to peace, we should work together with our own people, with those of other religious beliefs and with all men and women of good will to ensure understanding, cooperation and solidarity,' the pontiff said.
John Paul then repeated his remarks, delivered last month to diplomats accredited to the Holy See, that 'war is always a defeat for humanity.' This time he added: 'It is also a tragedy for religion.'
The road to Baghdad
The pope will meet with Prime Minister Tony Blair of Great Britain who has been supporting the US on the Iraq issue. Blair met with five American church leaders who have been visiting key European leaders to argue against war. 'The British government and the British people are in a position to shape this decision more than any other people or government in the world,' said Jim Wallis of Sojourners, leader of the delegation that included several Anglicans--Bishop John Chane of Washington, Bishop Clive Handford of Cyprus and the Gulf, Bishop Riah Abu El-Assal of Jerusalem, and Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane of South Africa. The delegation, under sponsorship of the National Council of Churches, earlier visited Rome, Paris, Berlin and Moscow to meet with political and religious leaders.
Chane expressed concern that there has been virtually no debate in Congress on a war. 'The churches are bringing that debate to the center of the public forum,' he said. Expressing a shared conviction among the delegation that a peaceful resolution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is crucial, he said, 'Find a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis and you will isolate Saddam Hussein.' Riah was even more blunt. 'The road to Baghdad leads through Jerusalem,' he said during the meeting with Blair.
In the meantime, his colleague Bishop Munib Younan of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jerusalem was preaching at an ecumenical prayer service against the war. Speaking for the Middle East churches who have been living with war and its suffering, he said that 'war kills the humanity of human beings and destroys the image of God in us.' He quoted Martin Luther King Jr. about the necessity to find alternatives to war. 'We do not want war against Iraq because it may be interpreted as war between the West and the Muslim world.'
Ndungane said that 'any war will affect us--in the redirection of resources away from poverty relief, the HIV epidemic and other crises. We in South Africa can offer an example of how to disarm that could reduce the temperature of this conflict.'
Moral doubts
In Great Britain itself public opinion is running heavily against war. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor issued a joint statement in which they said, 'War is always a deeply disturbing prospect; one that can never be contemplated without a sense of failure and regret that other means have not prevailed, and deep disquiet about all that may come in its train.'
While offering prayers for those who must make the final decision about war, the two primates said, 'The events of recent days show that doubts still persist about the moral legitimacy as well as the unpredictable humanitarian consequences of a war with Iraq. We recognize that the moral alternative to military action cannot be inaction, passivity, appeasement or indifference. It is vital therefore that all sides in this crisis engage through the United Nations fully and urgently in a process, including continued weapons inspections, that could and should render the trauma and tragedy of war unnecessary.'
They concluded with a plea to the government of Iraq 'to demonstrate forthwith its unequivocal compliance with UN resolutions on weapons of mass destruction.'
At its meeting in Switzerland, the Executive Committee of the World Council of Churches issued a statement in which it 'strongly deplores the fact that the most powerful nations of this world again regard war as an acceptable instrument of foreign policy.' It called on member churches to join in a day of prayer for peace at the beginning of Lent.
More resources are located on these sites:
Peace and Justice Ministries:
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/peace-justice/iraq.asp
Office of the Suffragan Bishop for Chaplaincies/Just War Resources:
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/ashapm/justwar.html
National Council of Churches:
http://www.ncccusa.org/
|
|
|
|
| © 2004, The Episcopal Church, USA. Episcopal News Service content may be reprinted without permission as long as credit is given to ENS. |
|
|
|
