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The Florida Council of Churches, a community of Churches that seeks to follow Jesus' way of love, including love of enemies, deplores the violence of terrorism and grieves over the suffering this violence is inflicting on people all over the world and especially in the Middle East. We also deplore the violence of military action that accepts the deaths of innocent people as a price worth paying in fighting terrorists. We agree with Martin Luther King, Jr., who said, "Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: Only love can do that."
We are
realistic enough to know that this world cannot be governed without the use of force and
that the forces of hatred must often be forcefully restrained. Indeed, there are many
among us who believe violence itself, though never desirable, is justified under the
circumstances set out in the Just War Theory. But for both ethical and spiritual reasons
our community of faith always prefers nonviolent solutions to social and political
problems. Moreover the nonviolent revolutions of the past century in India, the
Philippines, South Africa, the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, the United States (the civil
rights movement, women’s rights) and elsewhere have convinced many of us that
principled nonviolence exercised strategically and on a mass scale can be a force more
powerful than violence in restraining evil.
Informed by
our faith in Jesus and his way of love and nonviolent struggle, we must express grave
concern about a U.S. military attack on Iraq at this time. Such an attack has not yet been
shown to be necessary. We have not so far exhausted all the alternatives to war. We are
not convinced that the present circumstances are causing more suffering than war would. We
do not see how a preemptive war undertaken to prevent actions that may never take place
can justify placing at risk thousands of military and civilian lives. It is simply not yet
clear that the United States has just cause to initiate a war with Iraq.
In
addition, we must express equally grave concern over the unilateral nature of the military
action currently being contemplated by our government. If Iraq poses a threat to security,
it is not to the security of the United States alone but to all nations. The appropriate
body to initiate military action against such a threat is the United Nations. We
therefore urge our government to continue working with and through the United Nations to
address the threat that Iraq poses to the community of nations, to persuade Iraq to
cooperate with United Nations' weapons inspectors, and to pressure Iraq to eliminate all
weapons of mass destruction. Should military action be necessary as a last resort, we urge
that this action be taken under the auspices of the United Nations and with the
concurrence and participation of the greater community of nations.
We urge all the judicatory members of the Florida Council of Churches to distribute this statement to their congregations and encourage congregations to discuss it and make their positions, whatever they are, known to the political leaders of their region and of our nation. We also urge the congregations of all our member churches to pray for a just and nonviolent resolution of the problem of terrorism and for peace with justice in the Middle East and throughout the world.
Contact: fced@aol.com; www.floridachurches.org