by R. Randy Day

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War, said John Wesley, is a “monster” that cannot be reconciled to “any degree of reason or common sense” -- a monster bringing miseries to the warriors and to all those in the warriors’ path.

My staff colleagues and I at the General Board of Global Ministries recall these words of Methodism’s founder as we sadly watch the start of the American-led invasion of Iraq.

Wesley also said that war is too often caused by national leaders, who in disregard of their people, fail to find more creative ways of settling disagreements.

Limited vision by the leaders of both Iraq and the United States strongly contribute to this most recent conflagration in the Middle East. I have condemned and will continue to condemn the internal human rights violations and weapons policies of Iraq and its leader, Saddam Hussein. At the same time, I am appalled that the United States and its allies are launching such a mighty attack on a country where, on the humanitarian side, perhaps one half of the population is made up of children, and where, on the strategic side, the use of chemical and biological weapons against the invaders and local people is an alarming possibility.

I am deeply concerned about the welfare of Western military personnel, many of whom are sons and daughters of our Church, deployed to Iraq. The prayers of the Board staff and directors are with them and their families, and we implore God to bring them home safely.

I am deeply concerned about the Christians of Iraq, our brothers and sisters in faith, and the new risks they and their churches now face.

I am concerned about the welfare of all the Iraqi people. The General Board stands ready with ecumenical partners to assist refugees and other on-site victims of the war. Through the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) we are prepared to respond to immediate needs and with long-term aid to rebuild lives and support systems. Toward those ends, UMCOR has set up the Iraq Emergency Advance (#623225-4) and we are asking United Methodists and others to contribute generously to it.

Let me applaud the work of the Action by Churches Together (ACT) International, which in collaboration with the Middle East Council of Churches, is setting up centers of refuge inside Iraq. Both churches and mosques are engaged in this humanitarian initiative.

The United Methodist Church has a long heritage of opposition to war going back to John Wesley in the 18th century. At the same time, the Church has a strong commitment to minister spiritually to military troops and both spiritually and materially to the victims of war. Both opposition to war and ministry to participants and victims of war are mandates from Jesus Christ.

“We believe war is incompatible with the teachings and examples of Christ,” declares the Social Principles of The United Methodist Church. “Therefore we 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 between or among them.” The Church believes that “human values must outweigh military claims as governments determine their priorities.”

I am deeply fearful that the conflict in Iraq will escalate into armed conflicts in other parts of the world, especially in the Middle East. The General Board of Global Ministries works in scores of countries with fragile social systems that could be destroyed by international economic and political strife.

I remain unconvinced that substantive evidence links the September 11, 2001 attacks on U.S. sites to the policies and arsenals of Iraq. I am convinced that war is not the way to respond to terrorists but, indeed, is itself a form of terror. The Church seeks to build better relationships between conflicting parties rather than to promote either armed retaliation or military intervention.

“The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a gospel of peace,” Bishop Sharon A. Brown Christopher, president of the United Methodist Council of Bishops, reminded President George W. Bush some weeks ago. I want to join Bishop Christopher in that declaration and in saying that the Gospel “calls us to transcend political ideology and national interests to act on behalf of the welfare of the whole human family.”

We urge all United Methodists, including President Bush, a member of our Methodist family, to join in prayers for peace, praying with heart, and mind, and strength that humanity will be saved from the monster of war. Let us pray for the men and women engaged in combat. Let us pray, as Jesus commanded, for any people who, from national perspectives, are seen as enemies. And let us pray that we shall find ways to show in a time of war that we love our neighbors, especially those in Iraq, as ourselves.

	See Also... Topic: John Wesley |  United Methodist Church |  War |  Geographic Region: World |  Source: GBGM Administration
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Date posted: Mar 20, 2003