News
Thirty-seven church leaders from the United States, United Kingdom and Canada have called upon the US and British governments to use restraint in “the apparent drift towards military confrontation in Iraq”.
Citing their “links with church partners in the Middle East and our unity in Christ with Christians there,” the church leaders expressed concern about the “likely human costs of war with Iraq, particularly for civilians”.
The leaders issued from Geneva, Switzerland, where they are attending meetings of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC). The statement was faxed Friday morning (30 August) to the White House and to Downing Street.
The church leaders said the “Iraqi government has a duty to stop its internal repression, to end its threats to peace, to abandon its efforts to develop weapons of mass destruction, and to respect the legitimate role of the United Nations (UN) in ensuring that it does so.”
But the leaders also noted that there is little international support for a war against Iraq, and “no support among the Arab nations for such a war”. In addition, they state “the forces of extremism and terrorism would be strengthened rather than diminished” by the outbreak of hostilities against Iraq.
The statement said the US and UK governments should work through the United Nations Security Council to avoid war with Iraq and accept the offer of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to readmit UN weapons inspectors.
“We have watched with increasing alarm,” the leaders said, “as the United States government has become increasingly unilateral in its approach to foreign affairs, and has failed to heed the advice and counsel of friends and allies.”
The statement cited Matthew 5:9, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God,” and the North American and British church leaders called upon their governments “to stop the apparent rush to war”.
The WCC Central Committee will consider adopting a statement on the threats of military action against Iraq at the end of its meeting on 2 or 3 September.
The signatories of the statement are:
Rev. Kathryn K. Bannister (United Methodist Church, USA)
Rev. Alyson Barnett-Cowan (Anglican Church of Canada)
Dr Marion S. Best (United Church of Canada)
Rev. Ruth A. Bottoms (Baptist Union of Great Britain)
Ms Lois McCullough Dauway (United Methodist Church, USA)
Rev. Dr Robert Edgar (National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA)
The Rt Rev. C. Christopher Epting (Episcopal Church, USA)
Ms Alice-Jean Finlay (Anglican Church of Canada)
Rev. Douglass Fromm (Reformed Church in America)
Ms Anne Glynn-Mackoul (Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and all the East, USA)
Rev. Dr David Goodbourn (Churches Together in Britain and Ireland)
Eden Grace (Religious Society of Friends, USA)
Rev. Wesley Granberg-Michaelson (Reformed Church in America)
Rev. Dr Richard A. Grounds (United Methodist Church, USA)
Rev. Dr Richard L. Hamm (Christian Church – Disciples of Christ in the USA and Canada)
Ms. Elenie K. Huszagh (National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA)
Archbishop Mor Cyril Aphrem Karim (Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and all the East), USA
Rev. Dr Clifton Kirkpatrick (Presbyterian Church USA)
The Very Rev. Leonid Kishkovsky (Orthodox Church in America)
Rev. Stan McKay (United Church of Canada)
Rev. Roy Medley (American Baptist Churches in the USA)
The Rt Rev. Barry Morgan (Church in Wales)
Mr Naboth M. Muchopa (Methodist Church, UK)
Ms Jennifer Nagel (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America)
Mr Arthur Norman (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America)
Dr Bernice Powell-Jackson (United Church of Christ, USA)
Rev. Dr Bruce W. Robbins (United Methodist Church, USA)
The Rt Rev. Barry Rogerson (Church of England)
The Rt Rev. Telmor Sartison (Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada)
Rev. Dr Robert E. Sawyer (Moravian Church in America, Southern Province)
Rev. Norman Shanks (Church of Scotland)
Rev. Dr David Thompson (Disciples Ecumenical Consultative Council)
Rev. Jill Thornton (United Reformed Church of England)
Rev. Dr Angelique Walker-Smith (National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.)
Rev. Gethin Williams (Churches Together in Wales – Cytun)
Ms Louise Williams (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America)
Rev. Robina Winbush (Presbyterian Church USA)
Bishop McKinley Young (African Methodist Episcopal Church, USA)
A CALL TO STOP THE RUSH TO WAR
August 30, 2002
As representatives and participants from the United States, British and Canadian churches meeting at the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches, we have heard and share the concern of those of other nations about the apparent drift towards military confrontation in Iraq.
As the calls for military action to remove Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq have grown louder, we call for restraint. We are concerned about the situation in Iraq. We believe that the Iraqi government has a duty to stop its internal repression, to end its threats to peace, to abandon its efforts to develop weapons of mass destruction, and to respect the legitimate role of the United Nations in ensuring that it does so. But we also believe that the international community is weakened and respect for law undermined when national governments act individually rather than collectively to secure these goals. We have watched with growing alarm as the United States government has become increasingly unilateral in its approach to foreign affairs, and has failed to heed the advice and counsel of friends and allies.
Although both the U.S. and U.K. governments have claimed that they have evidence that Saddam Hussein is building up weapons of mass destruction, they have so far refused to make that evidence public. This undermines democratic government by depriving the U.S. Congress and the U.K. Parliament of the ability to make a considered judgment regarding the justification for war. Furthermore, the United Nations Charter does not permit states to engage in preemptive war. We therefore urge our governments to pursue this matter through the United Nations Security Council: In particular, we urge that Saddam Hussein's offer to re-admit U.N. Weapons Inspectors be accepted.
Our knowledge of and links with church partners in the Middle East and our unity in Christ with Christians there make us very sensitive to the destabilizing potential of a war against Iraq for the whole region. There is no support among the Arab nations for such a war and very little support in Europe and elsewhere. Christian-Muslim relations would be further harmed by such a war, and the possibility of such an action triggering direct military confrontation in Israel cannot be ignored. Further, the forces of extremism and terrorism would be strengthened rather than diminished.
As Christians, we are concerned by the likely human costs of war with Iraq, particularly for civilians. We are unconvinced that the gain for humanity would be proportionate to the loss. Neither are we convinced that it has been publicly demonstrated that all reasonable alternative means of containing Iraq's development of weapons of mass destruction have been exhausted. We call upon our governments to pursue these diplomatic means in active cooperation with the United Nations and to stop the apparent rush to war. "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God." (Matthew 5:9)