Churches sound as one voice - Do not initiate a war, they all say
By David Waters
March 2, 2003
In recent months, Americans have been asking each other a vital question:
Should we go to war?
Many of America's church leaders are responding to a different question that seems more to the point:
Should we start a war?
No, say leaders of the United Methodist Church, a denomination whose members include President Bush and Vice President Cheney.
"A preemptive war by the United States against a nation like Iraq goes against the very grain of our understanding of the Gospel, our church's teachings, and our conscience," wrote Sharon Brown Christopher, president of the United Methodist Council of Bishops.
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Should we start a war?
No, say leaders of the Episcopal Church, a denomination whose members include Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Powell.
"We believe a preemptive strike against Iraq, with the overwhelming force such a strike may require to attain an expedient victory, may have many unintended consequences, including unacceptable civilian casualties. Further, in this instance, we do not support a decision to go to war without clear and convincing evidence of the need for us to defend ourselves against an imminent attack," wrote the House of Bishops.
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Should we start a war?
No, say leaders of the Church of God in Christ.
"We do not find any moral justification for a preemptive strike in the absence of an attack, or real threat of an attack, upon the United States. A military strike of this nature puts the United States in the posture of aggressive warfare, not defense, which is precisely the behavior we, and your administration, deplore in the Iraqi regime," the COGIC Board of Bishops wrote to Bush.
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Should we start a war?
No, say leaders of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
"Our bishops' conference continues to question the moral legitimacy of any preemptive, unilateral use of military force to overthrow the government of Iraq. To permit preemptive or preventive uses of military force to overthrow threatening or hostile regimes would create deeply troubling moral and legal precedents. Based on the facts that are known, it is difficult to justify resort to war against Iraq, lacking clear and adequate evidence of an imminent attack of a grave nature or Iraq's involvement in the terrorist attacks of September 11," wrote Bishop Wilton Gregory.
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Should we start a war?
No, say leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Orthodox Church in America, the Christian Church (The Disciples of Christ), the United Church of Christ and the American Baptist Churches in the USA.
No, say leaders of the National Baptist Convention, the Progressive National Baptist Convention and the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
No, say the Quakers, Mennonites, Brethren and Unitarians.
gomemphis.com
Should we start a war?
I can't find a single major Christian denomination that says yes.
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