Religious leaders urge caution as
allies launch strikes in Afghanistan
'How many people do we have to kill in order for
Americans to feel better?' asks a New York rabbi
[10-11-01]
by Chris Herlinger in New York, Cedric Pulford in
London And Laurie Spurr in Geneva
Ecumenical News International
GENEVA - 9-October-2001 - Following the launch of
military strikes by the United States and the United Kingdom in
Afghanistan on Oct. 7, religious leaders cautioned against the pursuit
of revenge, with some voices calling for an immediate end to the action.
The World Council of Churches - a fellowship of more
than 340 Protestant and Orthodox churches world-wide - urged the U.S.
and the U.K. to "bring a prompt end to the present action" and
implored other nations not to join it.
"We do not believe that war, particularly in
today's highly technologized world, can ever be regarded as an effective
response to the equally abhorrent sin of terrorism," said Georges
Lemopoulos, WCC acting general secretary, today in a statement.
In his statement, Lemopoulos drew attention to Muslim
and other religious communities who "despite President Bush's and
Prime Minister Blair's affirmations to the contrary, are likely to
consider themselves the targets of this and the other military
Actions."
In the United States, H. George Anderson, presiding
bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, reminded
Christians that they had a duty to seek alternatives to war.
However, in a statement issued last night after the
first military strikes, Anderson also referred to "certain
circumstances" in which military force may be the only way "to
offer protection to innocent people." He called on military leaders
to "do all they can to protect civilians from harm" and urged
diplomatic efforts to promote peaceful solutions.
In New York, thousands of anti-war protesters gathered
Oct. 7 for an outdoor interfaith service at Union Square - a public park
that has become an unofficial site of mourning for New Yorkers since the
attacks of Sept. 11 - and then marched nearly 30 blocks to Times Square
for a rally.
The service and protest had been planned prior to the
start of military action in Afghanistan, but the news that the strikes
had been launched gave those attending the events a greater sense of
urgency.
Organized under the banner "New York: Not in Our
Name - Our Grief is Not a Cry for War," the protest featured what
has become almost a standard fixture now in public events for a city
still in grieving: an interfaith service that included Christian, Jewish
and Muslim clerics. All spoke of the need to promote justice, rather
than to seek revenge.
"We have just lost 5,000 to 6,000 people - a
veritable village," said Rabbi Ellen Lippmann. "But how many
people do we have to kill for Americans to feel better?"
Among the speakers at Times Square were Nobel Peace
Prize laureates and peace activists Adolfo Perez Esquivel of Argentina
and Mairead Maguire of Northern Ireland. Both said the need for peace
and international co-operation outweighed any need for what they
suggested were reprisal attacks.
A common theme of many speeches was the importance of
putting the terrorists on trial in an international court rather than
seeking military retaliation. "One kind of violence cannot resolve
another kind of violence," said Perez Esquivel.
In the United Kingdom, the Church of Scotland said
through its Church and Nation Committee that it was "yet to be
convinced that the use of military force in Afghanistan can be
justified."
The Presbyterian body described the Sept. 11 terror
attacks as "barbarism and evil on a level which almost defied
belief and which can never be justified," but argued that
"justice ought to be administered in an international court of law
and in the framework of the United Nations."
The statement, released on Oct. 4, was "still
pertinent" after the U.S. and British attacks on Afghanistan,
according to the committee convener, Alan McDonald.
He told ENI: "The committee remains unconvinced
that the bombing is justified. We are particularly concerned at the
likely loss of innocent lives." The statement said any military
response would have to be proportionate and accurate, with a reasonable
expectation of success. "A 'show of strength' would do nothing to
make the world a safer place," it added.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, and other
U.K. religious leaders attended a meeting with the British prime
minister, Tony Blair, at 10 Downing Street on Oct. 8. The group also
included Roman Catholic Archbishop Patrick Kelly, standing in for
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, who was in Rome at a synod of Roman
Catholic bishops, the Church of Scotland moderator, John Miller, and
Yousuf Bhailok, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain.
Afterwards Carey, leader of the world-wide Anglican
Communion, issued a statement on behalf of the group declaring that the
crisis "is not, and must not be seen as a confrontation between
religions - or with a particular religion."
The mainstream Muslim Council of Britain, which had
unreservedly condemned the Sept. 11 assaults on the U.S., distanced
itself from the U.S. and British attacks in Afghanistan.
It issued a statement on Oct. 8, in the name of a
meeting of imams (leaders) and scholars, describing military action in
Afghanistan as "a criminal act against humanity."
The statement said: "The meeting also condemned
the use of threats of war and intimidation against a whole people merely
on the basis of suspicion of a single individual or a group for
complicity in committing atrocities. Evidence must be presented and
commonly accepted judicial processes should be followed.
"An attack on Afghanistan, or the stoking of
civil war, would be a criminal act against humanity."
The imams and scholars acknowledged that the Muslim
community is "threatened from within" by individuals and vocal
groups that misrepresent or corrupt Islamic values, and "tend to
create hatred and animosity towards Islam and Muslims from the wider
public."
In Geneva, the Council of European Churches,
representing more than 120 Protestant, Anglican and Orthodox churches,
warned of a "vicious spiral of violence" that could be
unleashed from "disproportionate retaliatory and vengeful
responses."
The Sept. 11 attacks on the U.S. "demand[ed] a
response not least in justice to the victims and their families,"
said Keith Clements, CEC general secretary, and Metropolitan Jeremie
Caligiorgis, CEC president, in a letter to its member churches.
But, they added, "In seeking justice for victims,
[responses to terrorist violence] should seek to produce a result which
is more just after the event than before." They also called for
responses in keeping with international law.
Ishmael Noko, general secretary of the Lutheran World
Federation, which groups 133 churches in 73 countries, said that
"military action must as soon as possible be superseded by strong,
constructive efforts on other levels.
"A drawn out military campaign cannot be
sustained without generating a wider conflict, which could easily get
out of hand," Noko said in a statement issued Oct. 8 which also
called for the strengthening of diplomacy to deal with the
"underlying causes of terrorism."
Setri Nyomi, general secretary of the World Alliance
of Reformed Churches, which links more than 200 member churches --
including the Presbyterian Church (USA) -throughout the world, condemned
the attacks of Sept. 11 against the U.S., but urged people of all faiths
"to look for ways of overcoming the violence other than using
violent means."
"We do not see an answer in retaliation or any
other form of violence," he told ENI. "We urge Christians,
Muslims and people of other faiths to stand together in overcoming
violence and terrorism from whatever source it comes."
In Germany, Manfred Kock, chair of the council of the
Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), described the decision to launch
military action in Afghanistan as "high risk."
"It is not yet clear whether the methods chosen
will really serve the aim of combating terrorism, and whether the Afghan
civilian population can really be protected to the extent that has been
proclaimed."
In a statement, Kock said that action to combat the
terrorist organizations behind the Sept. 11 attacks must not be a form
of revenge, "but solely a question of punishing those who are
guilty and preventing future threats."
He called on Christians to continue praying for peace,
and remembered particularly the Christian aid workers on trial in
Afghanistan "whose fate is more uncertain than ever."
Eight foreign workers - four Germans, two Americans
and two Australians - and 16 Afghans from the German organization
Shelter Now International were arrested in Afghanistan in August and
charged with propagating Christianity.
