Methodist Federation for Social Action

People of The United Methodist Church must oppose a war with Iraq. I stand to be counted, unequivocally, among that number.

Why? The reasons are multiple.

Our church has been consistent in calling for the lifting of economic sanctions against Iraq. Imposed in 1990, these sever sanctions have been the moral equivalent of war-making perpetrated against a civilian population. UNICEF has estimated that between five and six thousand children have dies in Iraq each month, since 1990, as a result of these sanctions. While Saddam Hussein has not been neutralized, the United Nations has estimated that over one million Iraqis have dies from the sanctions. And, now, our government is preparing to kill more innocent elderly, women, and children through a pre-emptive war. Please, not in the name of The United Methodist Church or this bishop. (The Book of Resolutions, Page 682)
Our Church is clear. “…war is incompatible with the teachings and example of Christ. We therefore reject war as a usual instrument of national foreign policy and insist that the first moral duty of all nations is to resolve by peaceful means every dispute that arises…” (The Book of Discipline, Page 121)

The United States government has taken most, if not all, options for justice-doing in Iraq off the table in its rhetorical stampede toward war. This is unconscionable especially when, contrary to the United Nations strictures and the ideals of this nation, a pre-emptive strike is being advocated and such belligerent behavior advanced as foundational for the future foreign policy of this nation. Such chauvinistic arrogance and lack of concern for the people of the global community is idolatry of nation and must be named and challenged as such by the Church.
While pacifism affirms no war, the just war theory, embraced by most Christians as a way to embrace some wars as just, when applied to a war against Iraq, clearly cannot justify such unjust behavior on the part of the US. The just war theory holds that seven criteria must all be met before the Church can affirm any war as just. A war with Iraq fails to meet these ethical criteria in at least six of the seven categories. For example, last resort and proportionality. The failure of United Nation inspections and diplomacy to do what needs doing in Iraq has not been established. The opposition of the rest of the world to the Bush agenda, save the Blair government in Great Britain, attests to this fact. And “collateral damage”, meaning innocent civilians, would again be the primary casualties, if war were perpetrated. It is right that we mourn the three thousand victims killed in the United Stated on 9/11/01. But what about the five to six thousand children now being killed in Iraq monthly, by the present sanctions, not to mention the additional carnage that a war would produce? This would not be a just war, but an evil enterprise. This bishop, for one, will protest against it from now until US swords are reshaped into humanitarian plowshares for the poor of the earth, including the suffering poor of the Muslim world.
I was in Afghanistan in June 2002. I now realize, in part, why the Muslim world hates the West. The West is seen as imperialistic, materialistic, militaristic and hedonistic. A pre-emptive strike against Iraq will only further solidify anti-US attitudes and behavior patterns in the Muslim world. War-making by the US will increase, not decrease, the long-term propagation of terror. Drive people, already suffering, into utter hopelessness by the terror of war and chaos will follow. From that chaos legions of terrorists will emerge. Muslims are God’s people, too. In the name of God and the great traditions of this nation, it is time to stop, rather than increase, the killing of innocent Islamic people by the West.
How in the name of common decency can this nation plan to spend at least fifty billion dollars in fighting a nonsensical war in Iraq when one in five children in the US lives in poverty, out health and education systems are in disarray and the faltering economy, manipulated be the wealthy for their own gain, has sent deep shock waves across the retirement plans and monthly budgets of the working people of this nation? Such needs demand empathetic leadership, not rhetorical jingoism.

Now is the time for the church to be clear: We oppose this war and will not support it. This bishop is clear about his opposition to this immoral and politically unwise step toward chaos.