Resolution

Unitarian Universalist Community Church
69 Winthrop Street
Augusta, ME 04330
(207)622-3232
January 12, 2003

Presently we face problems of potentially catastrophic proportion brewing in Iraq and the Middle East. The world stands at a crossroads of war and peace; the United States has the power to choose which direction we go. The direction our nation chooses will affect each one of us and our descendants for years to come.

The members of the Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Augusta, Maine, affirm our belief in the inherent worth of every person; we promote the goal of a world community united by peace, liberty, and justice for all. We, therefore, urge the leaders of our country to seek peaceful, diplomatic, and humanitarian solution to the crisis in Iraq and the Middle East.

We emphatically recommend the principles of democracy - in our church, in our country, and in the world. For this reason, we do not in any way condone or agree with the regime of Saddam Hussein. He is by all accounts a cruel and ruthless dictator. Yet, it is not the right or responsibility of the United States to remove him. We believe the unilateral, pre-emptive military strike our nation is threatening would be an illegal and an immoral act. There is no glory in any kind of war, but a war in which we are the aggressors goes against what our nation has stood for since its conception. There is honor however in the much more difficult but life-affirming path of peace.

We ask our leaders and citizens to take the courageous and enlightened path of peace. We call on our nation, as the superpower of the world, as a model of democracy, world community peacefully toward justice and liberty for all. We call on our nation's leaders to abide by the resolutions of the United Nations, and to strive for a peaceful solution. Indira Gandhi said, "You can't shake hands with a clenched fist." We, the UnitarianUniversalist Community Church of Augusta, Maine, stretch forth our open hands to the world in peace.

Passed by The Congregation of The Unitarian Universalist Community Church

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