Pastoral Letter
On Human Dignity and the Aftermath of War

My friends,

I write with a deep sense of sadness and concern for our country and for this complex world in which we all must co-exist. My heart aches for a nation that I love and want to be proud of—a nation that continues to be involved in a conflict where so many innocent men, women and children have been killed; in which our own young women and men have been called to serve for much longer than they or their families ever imagined; called to do things they never imagined they would have to do. I am saddened and angered by the photographs of the horrifying abuse of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib detention facility. But more, I am saddened and frustrated by the grinding progress of this war, this unending occupation which seems to hold no prospect of a positive outcome for any side.

In the fall of 2002, before the war, I wrote that our role as religious people is to ask questions. Today, questions resound in our consciousness. A pre-emptive war we were told was justified by the threat to our nation, we now know was based, at best, on flawed intelligence and, at worst, on outright lies. A war which was justified by the brutality of Saddam's regime has now resulted in young American women and men acting out a brutality almost as extreme. A war we were told we had won more than a year ago is today claiming more and more lives. Iraqis who once supported the American invasion of their homeland in the hope that Saddam's removal would make their lives better have been disillusioned; many have turned against us.

How will we extricate our servicemen and women? To whom can we turn over power so that the lives of ordinary Iraqis do not become even harder and more dangerous than they are today? How do we support the people of Iraq so that they may lead dignified lives and determine their own destiny?

My heart tells me that these and other questions must continue to be our focus now. I cannot speak for all Unitarian Universalists on this matter, but I at least would ask our national leaders to be honest about what the real possibilities for peace are, instead of condemning such questions as unpatriotic. I would like our government to accept responsibility for the many, many lives lost in Iraq—not only American lives, but Iraqi lives. I would like to ask our national leaders to come up with a fresh approach, to acknowledge that the road we have taken thus far shows little promise for the future, to dedicate themselves to the task of imagining a new way forward.

It is the role of faith communities such as ours to ask difficult questions, to work for the causes and beliefs we hold dear, and to join with those in our faith circles in supporting one another. I hope you will raise your own questions in your homes and in your congregations, and that you will make use of the resources for reflection and possible action which are posted on this site. We are blessed to have our Unitarian Universalist faith and our congregations to rely on, so that we can bring our questions and our sadness, our hopes and our fears, and come together with other people of faith to pray, reflect, and to take those actions we find ourselves called to take. May the paths we search out together help lead to respect for all the people of this world, those who walk free and those who are imprisoned, and to a real and lasting peace.

In faith,

William G. Sinkford, President
Unitarian Univeralist Association
May 11, 2004