by Jim Wallis, Sojouners

[3-22-03]

On Tuesday, the prime minister of Great Britain, Tony Blair, met with five American church leaders about the decision to go to war with Iraq. President George W. Bush has yet to agree to meet with American religious leaders to hear their concerns about the U.S. rush to war.

The meeting at number 10 Downing Street lasted longer than the usual 15 to 20 minutes for such encounters. Tony Blair met with us for a full 50 minutes and was very engaged in the discussion about the moral and even theological issues at stake in this momentous choice.

Sojourners organized and led the delegation, which included: Bishop John Bryson Chane, Episcopal Diocese of Washington; Bishop Melvin Talbert, ecumenical officer, Council of United Methodist Bishops; Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, stated clerk, Presbyterian Church USA; and Rev. Dan Weiss, immediate past general secretary, American Baptist Churches in the USA. We were joined by international church leaders Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane, Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town; Bishop Clive Handford, Episcopal Bishop of Cyprus and the Gulf; Bishop Riah Abu El-Assal, Episcopal Bishop of Jerusalem, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria; Rev. Dr. Keith Clements, general secretary, Conference of European Churches; and our United Kingdom church counterparts. The trip was made in partnership with similar delegations to Berlin, Paris, Rome, and Moscow, coordinated by the National Council of Churches. In London, the organization Churches Together in Britain and Ireland graciously hosted us.

We affirmed that Tony Blair, a practicing Christian, was bringing "moral concerns" into the debate over Iraq. And we agreed with the prime minister that the issues of terrorism and the threat of weapons of mass destruction were deeply moral and theological issues. We also agreed, unequivocally, that Saddam Hussein was a real threat to his own people and to the entire world.

But we shared with Tony Blair how American church bodies have never before in our history been more united in their opposition to a war. While American and British leaders point out how terrible the regime of Saddam Hussein is (and rightly so), the churches want also to remind the world (and our political leaders) how terrible war is. In moving personal statements, the church leaders testified to our conviction that war is not the answer to the real threats posed by Saddam Hussein. The unintended and unpredictable consequences of war make it far too dangerous and destructive an option. We told the prime minister that the answer to a brutal, threatening dictator must not be the bombing of Baghdad's children.

It was neither hyperbole nor high drama to recognize, we told Tony Blair, that the British people and their prime minister are in a position to influence the decision about a war with Iraq more than any other people or leader in the world. We said that must be a terrible burden to bear and offered our genuine prayers and support to Mr. Blair as he charts the course his leadership will take in the coming critical weeks.

As Americans, we told the British leader that it would be a dangerous thing for the world, and for America, if an issue of such importance were to be decided solely or mostly by American power. We strongly affirmed that the issue of Iraq, with all its possible consequences, must be decided by the world community, in the Security Council of the United Nations, and not by the unilateral decision- making of the world's last remaining superpower. We said that the United States was becoming a "new Rome" in claiming a singular and pre-emptive moral authority to act in the world today, and that this was both bad theology and bad policy.

We respected the "convictional core" of the British prime minister around the legitimate concerns regarding the juxtaposition of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, but we urged him to persevere in finding another way to resolve the problem with Iraq apart from an American-led war. In fact, we suggested he, more than any other world leader, might help forge or even broker a better way, even a "third way," beyond doing nothing about Iraq or submitting to the inevitability of an American war, which could lead to a post-war regime in Iraq ruled by an American general. We talked of other directions, especially with a strong role for the U.N. - even a U.N. mandate or protectorate in Iraq - with rigorous inspections and continual monitoring of Saddam Hussein, backed by international force.

The critical need for a resolution to the Israeli- Palestinian conflict also figured prominently in our discussions. The Bishop of Jerusalem, Bishop Riah, spoke with great authority and clarity and told Prime Minister Blair, "The road to Baghdad leads through Jerusalem." The British government is making the critical connection between Middle East peace and the problem of terrorism and even Iraq, much more than the U.S. government has. We committed ourselves to helping change that.

British Secretary of State Clare Short also met with our delegation for an hour and a half, and joined us in the meeting with Mr. Blair. Short is becoming an important advisor to church efforts to find a solution to Iraq that is both effective and humanitarian.

I was impressed by how Prime Minister Blair entered into a real dialogue with us, shared our concerns for the people of Iraq for a genuinely international and U.N. solution, and recognized how crucial a Middle East peace was to this moment. I also saw a Christian political leader seriously wrestling with crucial matters of theology and moral discernment as we all approach the hour that is, in Martin Luther King Jr.'s words, "five minutes before midnight."

May God be with Tony Blair and with all of us.
 

Source: Sojourners 2003 (c) http://www.sojo.net