As servants of the Religious
Society of Friends (Quakers), as citizens of the United
States, and as members of the human family, we speak
today to express our profound grief and sorrow over
our government’s decision to go to war against Iraq. This
is a choice we know will have enormous and tragic consequence--many
as yet unimagined--for the Iraqi people, for our own
nation, and for the world. It is a choice we believe
was unnecessary, immoral and unwise, especially since
it was taken before all the nonviolent and diplomatic
alternatives were exhausted; indeed, before some were
even explored.
The God we worship is a God of love (I John: 4). This
Divine Spirit will always guide us into “paths of righteousness--into
lives of caring for, service to, and reconciliation
with our fellow human beings--if only we will open
ourselves to Divine direction and follow where that
leads. This God tells “what is good, and that
is to do justice, and love mercy, and walk humbly with
our God” (Micah 6:8). The living Christ, our Teacher,
tells us “to love our enemies” (Mt. 6:44). We
wonder where the justice, the mercy, or the love is
to be found in our government’s decision to launch
this preemptive attack, and begin a war where so many
people will die.
We are deeply saddened by the pain and suffering,
the destruction and loss of life, and the grief that
this war will bring to the Iraqi people. We are
deeply saddened as well by the pain and suffering,
the loss of life, and the grief that will be experienced
by our soldiers, their families, and the many, many
others who will be victims of this war. All these
people--Iraqis, American, British and others--are children
of God. We pray for God’s mercy on us all.
If this war goes swiftly, and the military objectives
of our government are achieved, some will call it a
success. But that can never be true. This
war, like every war, represents a profound failure. It
shows the failure of individuals and governments to
address conditions of poverty, injustice, and oppression
that lead to war. It shows our failure as human
beings to overcome our own fears and greed, which we
are told in Scripture are the root causes of war and
strife (James 4:1-2). It shows a failure of will
and creativity among those in our own government and
others to seek alternatives to military force to resolve
our conflicts. Finally, it represents a tragic
failure to work through and respect the United Nations
as the keystone of an evolving international system
of law and diplomacy that can respond to international
crises and avert war.
On this day, in our sorrow and our hope for a better
future, we recommit ourselves to work with all people
of faith and goodwill to bring this conflict to an
end, and to do whatever can be done to avoid more wars.
We believe, as President Carter observed in accepting
the Nobel Peace Prize, that “war is always an evil,
never a good. We will not learn how to live together
in peace by killing each other's children.” And
we pray fervently for that time the prophet Isaiah
predicted, when we “shall beat our swords into plowshares,
and our spears into pruning hooks; and nation will
not lift up sword against nation, and we shall not
learn war anymore” (Is. 2:4). |
