| | Religious Leaders 4th of July message to Bush: Don't let Iraq become another historic quagmire From the
National Council of Churches June 30, 2005, New York – Three religious leaders representing the Governing Board of the National Council of Churches USA announced today that about 630 religious leaders and nearly 16,000 people of faith in 44 states have endorsed a Fourth of July declaration that urges President Bush to develop an "early fixed timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops," to listen to a wider range of religious advisers and to re-evaluate his policy on Iraq. "It's clear that the administration has listened more closely to far-right religious leaders who agree with them," said the Rev. Dr. Bob Edgar, NCC General Secretary, in an audio news conference Thursday. "It's a hard task to get the administration to listen to a broader evangelical and religious community." The statement is an effort to give visibility to a widely held, more moderate religious point of view, one that the group says has been underreported in the national media -- and to attract the administration's attention to the urgency of having an exit strategy for Iraq. America's foreign policy, said the Rev. Dr. John H. Thomas, General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ, has made others around the world "view us as a dangerous nation." The NCC e-mailed the statement to friends and supporters on June 28, and 48 hours later had received more than 15,000 endorsements. Religious leaders and persons of faith continue to e-mail their affirmations at a rate of several hundred a day. In response to a reporter's question, Edgar noted that the NCC and other religious groups have vigorously opposed the war since the beginning. Edgar recalled his years as a young Congressman in April 1975. "We led a bi-partisan effort to shut down the Vietnam War," he said. "It took 55,000 body bags for that to be taken seriously." He called on Bush to reassess his war policy before it got to that stage. "I'm dismayed that the President seems to be unwilling to be open to other perspectives," said Thomas, who participated in the audio press conference from Atlanta, where the UCC's General Synod is meeting. "I'm dismayed that the President is unwilling to acknowledge the very serious, grave consequences of this initiative." The Rev. Dr. Larry Pickens, General Secretary of the United Methodist General Commission on Christian Unity and Inter-religious Concerns, said Bush's comments in his June 28 press news conference "articulated what is becoming a failed policy in Iraq. He hasn't made it clear what he intends to accomplish in Iraq. I don't get the sense that there is a great deal of vision." Thomas called upon President Bush to initiate "a major re-evaluation of his policy, with input from international leaders, including the United Nations." Pickens added that Iraqi society has been seriously damaged by war and needs "total restructuring. The training of Iraqi police is not enough to make that happen. War is just the beginning of the economic commitment that will be required." The full text of the statement, which will be sent to President Bush, can be found here. | |
