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Church Leaders Plead with President Bush to Seek Peaceful Solution to Persian Gulf Crisis

Episcopal News Service. November 29, 1990 [90301]

NEW YORK, Nov. 29 -- A group of 15 Protestant and Orthodox church leaders whose churches are related to Christian communities in the Middle East sent a frank letter to President Bush today, pleading for a "negotiated political solution to the crisis in the Persian Gulf."

"We are convinced that war as a means of settling international disputes is in conflict with the teachings of our faith," the letter said. Expressing concern that the crisis "is leading our nation steadily toward war," the letter expressed a hope that "justice be done and peace prevail throughout the Middle East."

The church leaders had requested a meeting with President George Bush to press their concerns but schedule conflicts made that impossible.

The letter specifically called on the President to:

• "Pursue every means for a negotiated political solution to the crisis in the Persian Gulf."
• "Declare clearly the interests of the United States in increasing its military deployment to the region."
• "Withdraw U.S. military forces from the region, except those required by the United Nations to maintain peace and security."
• "Support an international conference to deal with all areas of conflict in the Middle East."

While condemning aggression and supporting United Nations sanctions, the church leaders said a war "would be disastrous in its human and environmental cost."

The church leaders are planning a mid-December trip to the Middle East and the White House has expressed openness to a meeting with President Bush after they return.

Church leaders express increasing alarm over military solution

The letter comes in a climate of increasing alarm among church leaders over what they perceive as the inevitability of war. Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning released a statement on October 5 challenging the morality of a military solution to the Persian Gulf crisis. He demanded that Americans "examine...national priorities and addiction to unnecessary consumption" as they consider why their country has unleashed "the greatest military force since the Vietnam War."

Browning joined other Protestant and Roman Catholic church leaders in an October 10 press conference in Washington, D.C., to press the case for a peaceful solution.

Jim Wallis, editor of the evangelical magazine Sojourners, which sponsored the press conference, said that "the alleged national consensus of support for U.S. policy in the Persian Gulf is being used to lead us to war. That consensus must be disrupted." He added that the "war fever originates from the White House, remains fundamentally unchallenged by the Congress, and is fueled each day by the media." Oil has emerged as a symbol for our way of life and "a modern idol for the nation," which now "demands human sacrifice -- the lives of young soldiers and countless civilians."

At its November meeting in Oregon, the General Board of the National Council of Churches (NCC) unanimously adopted a statement accusing the United States of following a "morally irresponsible" course," adding that the military buildup "has led to an expansion of the military capacity of an already grossly over-militarized region." The NCC statement added, "In the face of such reckless rhetoric and imprudent behavior, as representatives of the churches in the United States we feel that we have a moral responsibility publicly and unequivocally to oppose actions that could have such dire consequences."

The National Conference of Catholic Bishops noted that the U.S. military leadership in moving "beyond the deployment of military forces in an effort to deter Iraqi aggression to the undertaking of offensive military action could well violate" what it called "clear moral criteria" to justify the use of military force.

"The use of weapons of war cannot be a substitute for the difficult, often time-consuming and frustrating work of searching for political solutions to the deep-seated problems in the Middle East that have contributed to this current crisis," the Roman Catholic bishops' statement said.