Responding to the Threat of War

A Pastoral Letter from the Rev. William G. Sinkford,
President, Unitarian Universalist Association

September 20, 2002

My dear friends,

I write to you with a heavy heart as conflict in the Middle East continues to escalate. Yesterday, terrorist attacks in the city of Tel Aviv brought more death and destruction, and in Washington, our President asked Congress for unlimited powers to disarm the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. Today, Israel has bulldozed most of Yassir Arafat’s compound in Palestine as the drumbeat for war against Iraq escalates in the U.S.

These are frightening, difficult times, and though it would be understandable if we responded out of fear, we are called as religious people to think and speak out of our values and our love for one another. And we are called to ask questions and search for paths that can open the way for peace.

Our national wish for security and safety is real and legitimate. Although the foreign policy establishment is itself divided over the nature and immediacy of the threat he poses, I have talked to no one who thinks Saddam Hussein is benign. We must acknowledge that the U.S. has the military capacity and power to eliminate Hussein. All these things are true – but none provides an answer to what we should do.

These issues can be divisive: our country was deeply divided during the conflict in Vietnam, and such wrenching division can happen again. We must be mindful of our past as we search for a way forward -- in our roles as Unitarian Universalists, as Americans, and as world citizens.

After prayer and reflection, I decided to act, and I want to offer you some possibilities for action as well. On September 12, I added my signature to a letter drafted by Churches for Middle East Peace and signed by forty-eight religious leaders that was addressed to President George Bush. The letter urges President Bush to explore every alternative to war with Iraq. On September 17, I met in Washington, DC with leaders of the National Council of Churches of Christ to discuss the crisis around U.S. action against Iraq. The NCCC has issued a call to action for a “season of peacemaking.” Beginning Monday, September 23, they encourage all people of faith to pray for peace and to call, fax and visit the local offices of their representatives in Congress to encourage them to “raise opposition to preemptive military action against Iraq” and to ask the right questions and explore the answers within their own hearts and faith traditions.

I join in this call. During the week of Sept. 23, I hope to speak with the three Unitarian Universalist members of Congress: Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND), Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-CT), and Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA). On Monday, Sept. 30, I plan to call on the Boston offices of Massachusetts Senators Edward M. Kennedy and John Kerry. During the next weeks, I will be in continuing dialogue with leaders of the National Council of Churches, the U.S. Conference of Religions for Peace, the World Conference on Religion and Peace, and The Interfaith Alliance, to work together to find a path that does not inevitably end in war. And I will pray.

What can you do? I hope you will discuss these matters with your family and your congregants. At the end of this letter, I’ve included a number of links that can provide additional information for you as you plan your own reflection and possible action. I hope you will call or visit your elected representatives at the national level, to discuss your questions with them and share your concerns. And I hope you will pray and reflect on what we all can do in the face of this conflict. Our role is not merely to advocate for a position – although many of us might wish to do so – but rather, to ask the difficult questions around the proposed conflict with Iraq and try, as I said in my April pastoral letter on the Middle East conflict, to “contribute to a richer imagination that can lead to peace.” The question in this difficult discussion must be more than simply, “Do we go to war?” Raw power cannot heal those wounds hidden in the human heart that lead us to conflict.

We will not all stand in the same place on this issue. But we can all stand in the same faith. Above all, that is my hope. In these troubling days and all those that lie ahead, my deepest prayer is that we stand in this faith with Universalist Olympia Brown, who wrote, over one hundred years ago, “Every nation must learn that the people of all nations are children of God, and must share the wealth of the world. You may say this is impracticable, far away, can never be accomplished, but it is the work we are appointed to do. Sometime, somehow, somewhere, we must ever teach this great lesson.”

Faithfully yours,

William G. Sinkford
President

Unitarian Universalist Association
25 Beacon St. | Boston, MA 02108 | 617-742-2100