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In January 2003 the North American section of the Orthodox Peace Fellowship sent President George Bush an appeal to not to launch a war against Iraq. This open letter was signed by a large number of prominent Orthodox Christians, and generated a great deal of attention and debate within the Orthodox Church and beyond.
The text of that
appeal and the list of signers (plus statements by several Orthodox hierarchs)
is posted in full on the OPF website.
It is reproduced here in full.
As Orthodox Christians, we seek the conversion of enemies
to friends in Christ. Saddam Hussein is an enemy of the United States and of the people of Iraq, but we
declare that there are better ways to respond to terrorism than to respond in
kind.
We do not argue against attacking Iraq because of
any admiration for Saddam Hussein. He came to office by intrigue and murder,
and remains in power by the same means; he is his own country's worst enemy.
The Iraqi people deserve to be rid of him.
The United States
is ready to overthrow him by any means, including an attack which would kill
thousands of civilians and maim many more, justifying such an attack on the
possibility that Hussein's regime is producing weapons of mass destruction and
preparing to use them against America
and Israel
and their allies.
Because we seek the reconciliation of enemies, a
conversion which grows from striving to be faithful to the Gospel, the Orthodox
Church has never regarded any war as just or good, and fighting an elusive
enemy by means which cause the death of innocent people can be regarded only as
murder. Individual murderers are treated by psychiatrists and priests and
isolated from society. But who heals the national psyche, the wounded soul of a
nation, when it is untroubled by the slaughter of non-combatant civilians?
As Orthodox Christians, we find healing in Christ, Who
made us responsible for His sacred gift of life. God created us in His image
and likeness, and we best reflect Christ - Who neither killed anyone nor
blessed anyone to kill - by loving, helping, and forgiving.
Friends help each other do good things, not evil things.
We find echoes of holy friendship in the world's unfolding reaction to events
in Iraq.
Many nations traditionally allied with America - along with many patriotic Americans -
oppose an invasion of Iraq.
They see how difficult a position the US
will assume by attacking Iraq,
and seek instead a renewed program of weapons inspection.
Iraq's closest neighbors are far from
supportive of the course the United
States is pursuing, even though they are
aware of Saddam's shameful, destructive regime. Not having rallied to America's side
does not mean that they support Saddam.
An attack on Iraq will be seen by many as an
attack on all Arabic and Islamic states. America, despite the rhetoric, is
perceived as seeing itself under attack by Islam. America
helped install and maintain the despotic Shah of Iran, but withdrew its support
when Iran
became an Islamic republic (itself undemocratic in many ways). Now America is seen as the largely uncritical
supporter of Israel,
against the interests of Palestinians, both Muslim and Christian. Bombing Iraq will
confirm these perceptions among Muslims.
An attack by Saddam on any nation would be viewed as
proper cause for a military response to Iraq
by the attacked nation and its allies, as was the case with Kuwait. This
may not be good, but it is true. Saddam now attacks only his own people, and
they need help - but not the "help" of being killed in an effort by other
countries to bring about "regime change" in Iraq.
"Pre-emption" (the notion that one nation may attack
another because of what it might do) is philosophically, ethically, and
pragmatically perilous. After all, an enemy may return the favor. Once
"pre-emption" is established as a valid principle for international relations,
nations which invoke that principle will have no conceptual shelter.
If the world can be convinced that it's possible to work
peacefully to make life more livable for all, we will all be better off. This
is the reconciliation we hope for as Christians among individuals. Can it not
happen among nations, between Iraq
and its neighbors, and for all the good people of the world?
The Orthodox Peace Fellowship calls on the United States and the United Nations to follow
diplomatic paths predicated on mercy, honesty, and justice, and to seek
peacefully negotiated resolutions to the impasse in Iraq.
We implore Christ, Who is our peace, to bless every
endeavor directed toward our complete reconciliation with each other, and with
Him.
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