A singular program of the Presbyterian Church USA invited "in tandem" Christian-Muslims from ten countries to the US in order to speak to people about peace and interreligious dialogue. While the tragedy of September 11, 2001 was being remembered, Bush announced a "preventive war" on Iraq. It is a war that also divides the Churches.
The first anniversary of the 11th of September 2001 (the destruction of the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York and the other two terrorist attacks completed the same day by kamikaze Muslims in the United States of America) would prime, it could have been predicted, an avalanche of commemorations all over the country where the tragic event by now is simply called "September Eleventh". So, wanting to add its specific contribution to the great common reflection, the Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) organized an initiative that I want to explain here, having personally participated. Besides, it seem to us an initiative of strong exemplary character, which was being held while President George W. Bush pre-announced the war against Iraq, therefore obligating simultaneously reflection, regarding the 11th of September and the Washington-Baghdad conflict.
Christians and Muslims in Tandem
According to the "2002 Yearbook" of American churches, the top ten, for number of believers, are: Roman Catholic 63,6 million; Southern Baptist Convention 15,9; Methodist 8,3; Church of God in Christ 5,4; Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormon) 5,2; Evangelical Lutheran Church in America 5,1; National Baptist Convention 3,5; PCUSA 3,4; Assemblies of God 2,5; and Missouri Synod Lutheran Church 2,5. In first place, therefore, is the Roman church; but, all together, the Protestant churches and "Evangelicals" are more numerous because, beyond those cited, there are many others. The PCUSA is "classified" in eighth place; however its political and ecclesiastical weight in the country is larger than what the raw data indicates.
The PCUSA, a Reformed church (that is, tied to the Calvinist tradition), for many years has had "Peacemaking" and inter-religious dialogue programs. But in view of the anniversary of the 11th of September, it launched the Presbyterian Interfaith Listening Pilot Project. It was planned that two persons from each of ten countries (Kenya, Egypt, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Lebanon, Jordan, India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Italy) would come, one a Christian (Protestant, Catholic-Roman, or Orthodox) and the other a Muslim. In tandem they would visit several American cities, in order to meet Presbyterian communities, but also a more varied and universal public, in order to tell (from their own life experiences), about interreligious dialogue and Christian-Muslim relationships inside their own countries.
Those invited obtained their visas for the USA, with two exceptions, which necessitated changes to the network of encounters that had been planned for months. Mostafa El Ayoubi, a Muslim born in Morocco and a resident in Italy for twelve years is a journalist for Confronti. Despite the long wait protracted (for over two months) by the American Consulate in Rome, obtained the approval long after the program was over. No visa either for Hadji Billamin Hasan, Muslim, Philippino, who is engaged in negotiations for the liberation of hostages on the island of Mindanao (taken by Muslim groups that are opposed to the central government in Manila). In the case of Mostafa, in spite of the many requests by those in leadership at Confronti and the PCUSA, no reasonable explanation was given by the US Consulate in Rome, as to what motivated a refusal that seems to flagrantly violate the UN Charter.
The entire group of participants spent three days (7-9 September) in Stony Point, a village in the state of New York, forty kilometers from the metropolis, where the PCUSA has a center adapted for conferences. The dialogue both among those taking part, and between them and the leaders of the PCUSA, facilitated better structuring of the style and content of the conferences that the various tandems would then hold from Florida to California, from Texas to Michigan, and from Illinois to Missouri.
The moderator of the PCUSA, Fahed Abu-Akel, was also present at Stony Point. He was born to an Arab Christian family in 1944, in Kafr-Yassif, a village of the Galilee that at that time, under the British Mandate, made-up a part of Palestine (and today is part of Israel). Since childhood, Fahed has known the suffering tied to the contested partition of his country, which originated the Arab-Israeli conflict. In 1966 he immigrated to the United States where, in '81 he obtained citizenship. A graduate of theology in Chicago, he was ordained as a minister in 1978, and last June was elected moderator (and charged with the duty for a year) of the same church. The fact that, after September Eleventh, the Presbyterians have elected as their "apex" a Christian of Palestinian origin is certainly an action of significant political and ecclesiastical courage in a country where for many, the equations that apply are Muslim = Arab, and Arab = terrorist.
There were also representatives of Islam who spoke at Stony Point: Naeem Baig, general secretary for the Islamic Circle of North America, Mokhtar Maghraoui, another Muslim leader, and Aisha al-Adawiya, director of the American association Women in Islam. The three drove home the point that a careful reading of the Qur'an inspires one to work for peace, confirming that they, like all the citizens of the USA, have suffered as a result of the tragedy of the 11th of September, condemning with absolute firmness those responsible for the massacre; and repeating that the American Muslims (according to some 5-6 million, while others, more probably, say 2-3 million) are calm people who do not aim to subvert the institutions.
A "pilgrimage" to "Ground Zero" concluded the three-days in Stony Point. The sight of the black hole in the heart of Manhattan leaves one dismayed. The twin towers that rose up can now only be seen on blowups hung on nearby skyscrapers. Right next door the guard-rails of the garden of Saint Paul's Episcopal Church (Anglican), which remained miraculously unharmed by the collapse of the towers hit by the kamikaze- airplanes, are covered with thousands of small flags, handkerchiefs, and photos, in memory of the victims of the tragedy. "Why?" was written on many cards.
Then, the tandems left on their "missions" to various states, returning two weeks later to Stony Point, where they shared their various experiences. This sparked a wide debate at the end of which Jay Rock, co-director of the Pilot Project with Debby Vial, asked us with humble frankness, "Tell us how the Gospel can be credibly announced in the heart of the empire?"
The meeting at Stony Point concluded the 24th of September with a special prayer in common, developed together with the participants; a prayer not seen as a short cut through the great theological divergence between Christianity and Islam, but inviting every believer in God to cooperate with his brother in order to bring about peace on earth. The text read, "By whatever name and by whatever way with which we know the One God, we celebrate our common call and we turn again to the Holy One. The Living God has re-united us in witness, commitment and celebration. We thank God the all-merciful . . . O God of the thousand names and thousand faces, Mother and Father of every life on earth, You who live in the cells of every life, teach us to know You and love You". Then Sheik Abdurahman Hussein Mussa, head of the Supreme Ethiopian Council for Islamic Affairs, sang a verse from the Qur'an, and the Christians read some biblical passages. The various texts invited believers to faith in God and peace.
"The War on Iraq Is Immoral"
The commemoration of September Eleventh in the USA, with thousands of "memorials", unavoidably mixed with the growing rumors of war against Iraq, culminated with Bush's demand to Congress on the 19th of September for a "preventive attack" on the Iraq of Saddam Hussein. He is accused of being a constant threat to the USA and the entire world, because of the weapons of mass destruction that the "Raìs" (Iraq's President) would have accumulated. The president's demand was accompanied by a document of 33 pages -- the new "National Security Strategy".
The text, which the Financial Times calls the "Bush Doctrine", is of extraordinary gravity. It, in fact, theorizes Washington's right to wage a "preventive war" against those countries and those regimes that, according to the White House are "terrorist", and threaten the security of the USA. It calls for the support of the International Community, if possible, but when this (read: UN Security Council) does not occur, or is opposed, also without. The text asserts in fact that, "While the USA will constantly try to insure the support of the International Community, we will not hesitate to act, alone if necessary, exercising our right of self defense with preventive action against these terrorists (states)". After "just war", we come to "preventive just war". Such is the thesis of the head of the only imperial superpower.
It is obvious that a tremendous change would have to take place if the "Bush Doctrine" was allowed to be enacted. In fact, the internal and international political debate provoked it to surface. However, here we only want to highlight some of the reactions that the president's theory (also hidden before the commemoration of the 11th of September) has provoked in the PCUSA and other American churches.
On the 30th of September the moderator Fahed Abu-Akel and Clifton Kirkpatrick, Stated Clerk (a sort of secretary general of the General Assembly, the highest authority of the PCUSA who, in his reunion of June, also faced the problem with Iraq) sent a letter to Bush. They wrote, "As the church, we are called to practice forgiveness to enemies and to commend to the United States and to all nations, as practical politics, the search for cooperation and peace. This search requires that nations pursue fresh and responsible relations across every line of conflict, even at risk to national security, to reduce areas of strife and to broaden international understanding. Witnessing to these beliefs, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), through its 2002 General Assembly, calls on the United States government to exercise restraint in its contemplated military action against Iraq."
The letter continues, "We respectfully believe that unilateral military aggression such as pre-emptive strikes or the forceful overthrow of a sovereign government will not address the underlying issues that contribute to violent responses such as terrorism. We applaud and expect the United States to respect international law and treaties and to reflect respect for all human life in every country. We request that the United States work in partnership with the United Nations in the quest to control any buildup of weapons of mass destruction through a regional weapons inspection and control initiative."
The same day, the General Assembly Council (executive organ of the same church), in a "Message to the Church and the Nation" asserted, "Rather than to attack Iraq, we forcefully request that the priority of the White House regarding the Middle East should be a cease-fire and a peaceful solution between the Israelis and the Palestinians". In any case, "We are morally opposed to the USA undertaking further military action against Iraq. The people of Iraq have suffered enough during the last two decades of war and severe economic sanctions". Moreover, it added, "The use of pre-emptive military force, by the United States, in order to stop the proliferation of arms, however serious this is, establishes a dangerous precedent, particularly for those nations who feel threatened by the military potential of their neighbors."
"Anew we ask that the economic sanctions against Iraq be removed . . . The economic embargo makes it difficult or impossible for the people of that country to have access to essential goods". In this regard, the background of a report by the "Peacemaking" group of the PCUSA, reminds us that from 1991 (when the embargo, sought above all by the White House, took effect), "more than a million and a half persons, among them half a million children, died in Iraq because of the lack of food and medicine ". Once again, "We ask for comprehensive efforts by the United Nations, the United States, and the governments of the Middle East to remove all weapons of mass destruction from that region, as part of the worldwide effort to eliminate such weapons and end their development, and, to the government of Iraq, to divert the resources employed in the development and deployment of instruments of destruction to enterprises that will benefit the people of the country".
Certainly, the report also notes, that for eleven years Saddam Hussein has defied the Security Council of the UN, disregarding its resolutions, and "there is an immense international consent to the fact that President Hussein is a threat to his own people as well as other nations. However, the question remains: how to overcome this threat in an effective and appropriated way? In fact, a war against Iraq will: weaken the international legality, cause more suffering and death among the Iraqi civilians, be fought against the desire of many Arab nations, be comprised by those allied with the USA (without the support of the UN and virtually, without the support of Europe), see many American and Iraqi soldiers die, and increase the instability of the Middle East". The alternatives to the war, the report concludes are, "To resume the inspections in Iraq under the aegis of the UN, to support the international efforts to eliminate the weapons of mass destruction, to remove the economic sanctions from Iraq, to dry up the financial resources of terrorism, to help resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict".
A Conflict that Divides the Churches
The threatened war with Iraq divides the American public opinion, now split nearly in half (with a slight prevalence to "yes", which diminished however in October). It is a cutting sword that unavoidably divides the American churches (as well as those in all the world) one from the other, and from within each church.
Visiting some Presbyterian communities in the deep South of the "States" we heard some believers say (commenting on public demonstrations against the war on Iraq wanted by Bush), that the beatitude regarding "the peacemakers" announced by Jesus (Matthew 5:9) is absolutely not applicable to those who demonstrate for peace in public places, but only regards "the peace of the heart".
On the 9th of September, when the orientation of the White House was already clear, Richard Land, president of the Ethics Commission of the Southern Baptist Church (by number, the largest non-Catholic Christian group in the USA), said yes to Bush. Saddam Hussein, Land argued, "has developed weapons of mass destruction that he plans to use against the United States and their allies, has smashed all the agreements that were a condition of the armistice in the Gulf War, and that those agreements included the entrance of arms inspectors into Iraq". He added that recent satellite photos have uncovered new inexplicable construction possibly tied to nuclear energy in Iraq. Therefore, "military action against the Iraqi government would be a defensive action. The human costs resulting by not taking Hussein down and ending his government which produces, multiplies and proposes the use of weapons of mass destruction must be paid now, or later (but then with a higher cost)".
While Bush said that Saddam Hussein is one issue, however Islam is another, and that the USA does not want to attack such a religion, the tele-evangelist Baptist Jerry Falwell, in a telephone interview with CBS, on the 6th of October, belligerently remarked: "I believe that Muhammad was a terrorist. Jesus has given the example of love, as did Moses also. Instead Muhammad has given an opposite example". Bernard Sabella, secretary for the Middle East Council of Churches, immediately wrote to Falwell saying, "We not only find your words offensive toward Muslims and their religion, but also to Christians and our faith. A commitment to stop the violence, all the violence, would also have to include the commitment not to resort to oral violence. May I beseech you to return to the foundations of our Christian faith and become a constructive force in the world and especially in the tormented Middle Eastern region?"
"Hateful and destructive" ideas that "are not those of the majority of the Christians in this country or the rest of the world": was the response to Falwell, on the 7th of October, by the Executive Council of the National Council of Churches of the USA (NCC), composed of 36 different denominations for a total of approximately 50 million faithful. The president Elenie Huszagh and the secretary Bob Edgar of the NCC, also wrote to Bush expressing their clear-cut opposition to a "preventive military attack" against Iraq and asking to invert "the push toward war".
As a result of the controversy, Falwell asserted that he had been "misinterpreted", and specified that, "I have never maintained what was said in a telephone interview in a sermon or a book ".
This back-pedaling does not negate the fact that many American Christians, above all the new Evangelical churches, supports Bush's undertaking. But many oppose it. A peace conference was held on October 5th and 6th, in Georgia, sponsored by the United Church of Christ in Atlanta and the World Council of Churches (WCC). It was framed within the "Decade for Nonviolence" initiated by the same WCC in 2001. "The religions have often encouraged the violence," said Pastor Gilbert Friend-Jones, of the United Church of Christ, "and this is unfortunately one characteristic that joins all the greater religious traditions". But they also have in common, encouraged peace, as the participants said of the meeting of various religious traditions that are committed "to promoting new forms of cooperation between faith communities all over the world in order to support the cause of peace".
Jim Winkler, chief exponent of the United Methodist Church, declared, "The first moral duty of all the nations is to resolve with pacifistic means, any contrast that arises between them. A preventive war represents the greatest and most dangerous change in U.S. foreign policy, and signals a terrible precedence for other nations."
Mons. Wilton D. Gregory, president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, in a letter invites Bush "to actively search for alternatives to the war. Decisions of such gravity must respect the constitutional imperatives of the United States, have a wide consensus in our nation, and international ratification, particularly from the UN Security Council".
In Washington on the 10th of October, with 296 yes and 133 no votes, the House approved Bush's request for a preventative war on Iraq even without the consent of the UN. Six Republicans voted no; the Democrats were divided with 126 no and 81 yes votes. The day after the Senate turned out analogous eventually, with 77 yes and 23 no, (where the Democrats have the majority seat). These steps toward war have naturally sharpened, beyond the political debate, also to those in the churches. Because of a unique coincidence on the 11th of October, the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Jimmy Carter, the American ex-president (and Baptist Christian) who, among others, in 1978, was the great "sponsor" of Camp David Accords in which the Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and the Israeli premier Menachem Begin (who were previously bitter enemies) committed themselves to a road of reconciliation between their countries. After finding out about the prize, and commenting on the vote of the American Senate on Iraq, Carter said, "I would have voted against it."
"God bless America", with which the official speeches from the House White have finished, and many times in these weeks Bush has proudly repeated, becomes therefore, now more than ever, a blade that lacerates the American churches (but also the other religions of the country), and a great problem of conscience. Is it legitimate to invoke the blessing of God while going to war, or is not such a prayer, blasphemous and sacrilegious? "War in the name of God", not only in the United States of America (but also all over the world, in the Middle East in particular, invoking the Holy Name achieves violence and terroristic enterprises of a state or group), divides and will divide the churches and religions much more than the theological issues that they also implacably oppose. Only the commitment to peace, blessed by God, can heal the believers in the Ineffable.
David Gabrielli