News 2005
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Bearing Witness:
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A Litany of Witness |
By the Rev. Kathleen McTigue We gather together this evening to honor our grief in this time of war, a weary grief born from violence that breaks bodies and hearts, families and communities. We gather as a circle of remembrance, to honor those now missing from the circle. We bear witness to our loss. We remember the ones we knew and loved who perished, and we honor the strangers whose smiling faces and shattered hopes have haunted the edges of the news all through this long year. We bear witness to our loss. We honor those 2,000 soldiers--our children, spouses, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, friends--those brave ones who turned their faces towards the danger rather than look away, who offered their bodies to serve our nation, who paid the price of war with bone and sinew, breath and blood. We bear witness to our heroes. We have learned that our world is a complex web of sorrows, a litany of wrongs and injustices into which we are bound. Our pain has sometimes led us to the ancient and dangerous equation of an eye for every eye, a tooth for every tooth. We bear witness to our choices. There are strangers half a world away whose lives have also been lost, innocent others just as beloved as our dead, just as worthy of lives rich and long. We bear witness to our violence. Yet we know ourselves to be people who hunger for righteousness. We hear the persistent whispers from our prophets and teachers who remind us of the sweet movement from the fist to the open hand, and tell us how urgent is the call to that movement now. We bear witness to the power of forgiveness. There is only one human tribe across all the earth. Within each confused and yearning heart is the capacity for unspeakable cruelty, and the seed of great goodness that can open us to new life. We bear witness to our unity. All around us we hear the language of war sounding out. We are called into the stronger lilt and music of a different syntax, a language of peace, a language in which our future can still beckon us as a place of safety and nurture, justice and harmony. We bear witness to the way of peace. |
(October 26, 2005) Yesterday marked the 2,000th death of a US service member in Iraq. The UUA joins with Faithful America 
, the National Council of Churches , other religious groups, and the Win Without War coalition in both grief and action. As Faithful America has said, "This is more than a tragic milestone in our nation's history. It is an occasion of profound loss for our nation and the world. When a single life is lost – whether that of a soldier or one of the estimated 30,000 innocent children, women, and men in Iraq caught in the crossfire – we lose more than a life. We lose a part of our future – all of the people who might have been touched, helped, and enriched by those whom the world will never again see. We lose part of our promise of a better world. We lose a part of ourselves, for as nearly every faith tradition teaches, we are all one."
UUA President William G. Sinkford announced his personal support for withdrawal from Iraq in his pastoral letter on October 5, 2005, saying "Before this war began, I spoke out with many religious leaders to question its wisdom. After we became mired in war, however, it was less clear to me what it meant to stand on the side of love, both domestically and internationally. It is now clear to me that the time has come for a phased and scheduled withdrawal from Iraq."
The UUA has been supporting the Homeward Bound Act , which would require the administration to develop and implement a plan for withdrawal.
Last night, the UUA supported MoveOn.org and its partners in encouraging UU participation in vigils to mourn the loss of 2,000 American lives in the war with Iraq. Over 1200 vigils across the United States were held.
The UUA and our partners are encouraging faith communities across the country to participate in "Remembrance Weekend" this coming weekend, October 28-30.
Here's what you can do :
- Please contact your local faith leader and invite him or her to engage your congregation in some way to honor and remember all those whose lives have been lost in the Iraq war.
- Use the suggestions and resources provided by Faithful America to participate. You need not alter your planned service, but may incorporate one or more of the suggestions listed we provide.
- Tell us what you are doing: Please take a moment and register your congregation , or urge your faith leader to do so. It will take only a few seconds to do so.
- Take take time to remember in your own private way. Your heart is the wellspring from which you take action. Remember that as persons of faith and conscience we do have a voice and our faith DOES have the power to move mountains.
Advocacy:
Consider making a commitment to advocacy in the coming weeks. Unitarian Universalists and other people of faith in Connecticut, acting under the banner of an interfaith coalition called "Reclaiming the Prophetic Voice
: Witness to the Human Cost of the Iraq War." Among other things, on All Saints' Day, Tuesday, November 1, Reclaiming the Prophetic Voice is urging clergy and people of faith throughout the state of Connecticut and beyond to act on their faith, at district Congressional Offices, speaking out against the immorality and illegality of the Iraq War and of the abuse and torture of detainees in US custody."
For more information, please visit the Reclaiming the Public Voice website
Resources:
Visit the National Council of Churches' "Prayers for Peace: An Interfaith Cry from the Heart" website Parts I
Read The Wake of War: Encounters with the people of Iraq and Afghanistan
UUA Statements: The War Against Iraq
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