Episcopal Press and News
A Statement to Episcopalians by Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning on the Persian Gulf Crisis October 5, 1990
Episcopal News Service. October 10, 1990 [90269]
I reach out to all people of goodwill during this time of international crisis in the Middle East. For these past weeks I have felt the pain and anguish that this crisis has wrought. My heart has been with the young men and women of the armed forces serving in Saudi Arabia, and with all those who find themselves displaced and refugees. My heart has been with all those persons in the Middle East who would be victims in the outbreak of war. And my heart has been with those who cry out for a peaceful resolution to this crisis.
With all these things and so much more weighing on my heart, I share my own thoughts as they have developed in these recent days. I offer them in a spirit of hope that in responding to this crisis with reason and compassion, we may find a peaceful resolve.
I believe that the United Nations' sanctions against Iraq are just and sound. The international community has come together in an unprecedented way to resist the naked aggression of one state against another. Iraq must now heed the judgment of the community of nations -- including other Arab states -- and withdraw completely from Kuwait while an embracing diplomatic solution is sought for the complex, interlocking problems of the Middle East as a whole.
But in spite of the near unanimity of the United Nations in confronting the crisis, the time is fraught with danger. Lines have been drawn in the desert sands. Huge armies and armadas, led by those of our own country, face each other with the promise of unimaginable destruction and havoc. Ironically, all this occurs just as the superpowers have moved from postures of confrontation to cooperation, and as the promise of a "peace dividend" has raised hopes in our country of a renewed emphasis on pressing national problems.
In this atmosphere of tension and the threat of war, let me, as presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, urge the following of our people: That we not demonize, stereotype, or oversimplify.
This is not a time for propaganda but for sober truth. As the presidentbishop of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East has reminded us, the present conflict has a history and cannot be seen or dealt with in isolation. Part of that history is the arbitrary and self-serving manipulations of the colonial powers 70 years ago, manipulations that still engender rage among the Arab peoples and make all Western talk of democracy and justice sound to them like sheer hypocrisy.
The Persian Gulf crisis is made more complex and nearly intractable by the Palestinian problem, which lies at the core of Middle East unrest. But there is hope here, for if the present crisis can be resolved through United Nations sanctions and diplomatic means, the way may be paved for a longsought solution to the Palestinian problem. This is all the more reason that the crisis be seen in its true light as one part of an interconnected whole and not as an isolated incident.
Nor is the crisis a clash between Islam and Christianity, as the archbishop of Canterbury so clearly stated in a recent speech to the British House of Lords. (Indeed, there is a sizable indigenous Christian community in Iraq, and the Anglican Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf is present throughout the area.) Nor should we allow the crisis to degenerate into an anti-Arab campaign. Here the problem of stereotyping and demonization becomes acute. Americans must realize that the Saddam Hussein characterized as an Adolf Hitler after his invasion of Kuwait is the same person who a few weeks earlier was being touted by the Bush administration as a possible guarantor of peace and stability in the region. Surely truth and justice are not served by stereotype and propagandistic demonization.
Let me urge that we not fall into the trap of war as a means of solving the problem. The General Convention has endorsed numerous Lambeth Conference resolutions that "war as a method of settling international disputes is incompatible with the teaching and example of Our Lord Jesus Christ." Although the cold war is palpably dead, old cold war habits die hard. Does not the movement of a massive war machine to the deserts of Saudi Arabia and the waters of the Persian Gulf make war the more likely? The sanctions must be given time to work. I continue to believe firmly that the United Nations and the Arab states themselves, working in concert, offer the best hope for a bloodless solution to the conflict.
Let me urge that our national motives be clear and honorable.
For what reason has our nation unleashed the greatest military force since the Vietnam War? Are we not justified in suspecting that the reason is primarily economic, having to do with unimpeded access to oil? Have we not sent our young men and women to the Persian Gulf, as our President has said, to "protect the American way of life"? But what way of life is it that allows the homeless and unemployed to huddle on our streets and our inner cities to decay? Is it possible that the American "way of life" -- unbridled consumption -- has not become for many millions a "way of death," unendurable poverty? Let us examine our national priorities and our addiction to unnecessary consumption. Let us be the nation we imagine ourselves to be -- a beacon to the world's poor, a standard-bearer for justice and peace.
Let me urge, finally, that we honor human life.
With the brutal Iraqi invasion, innocent human beings have become pawns, shields, and hostages. Families have been separated. National economies in Jordan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and elsewhere have been strained by the sudden influx of refugees who have lost their possessions and their livelihoods. American women and men in the armed forces are serving bravely in a hostile and unknown environment, while their families tremble at home. As someone has said, "Old men and women should not be sending young men and women to die for mistakes made by those same old men and women." Misplaced priorities and mistaken decisions always exact a human cost. Shall this cost be the deaths of innocent civilians and brave young soldiers?
I pray for President Bush that he adhere to the United Nations resolutions on the Persian Gulf crisis, and I pray for him as he wrestles with the difficult decisions of his office. I urge that he remain steadfast and never give in to the trap of war.
I urge you, my fellow Episcopalians, to offer the same prayers. Join me in supporting cooperative and peaceful solutions to the crisis. Reexamine in a spirit of humble repentance your stewardship of the earth's resources. Resist the misplaced national pride that refuses to recognize the face of Christ in your brother and sister in Iraq and the Middle East. Love the Lord God with all your heart, and your neighbor as yourself. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and of all God's holy creation.
Edmond L. Browning
Presiding Bishop and Primate