This is not a time for war but a time for peace.
We the people of Shalom Community Church of Ann Arbor wish to register and
pledge our resistance to the United States of America going to war with Iraq.
If we make war on Iraq, unprovoked and unattacked, there will
be more US protesters in US jails than US soldiers in Iraq. This talk
of war is a foul language; this beating the drums of war will lead us down
an evil path.
Rather than all this talk of war it is a time to pursue
peace. It is a time for us to forgive the nation of Iraq and lift the
heavy burden of economic sanctions we have placed on their people for the
past twelve years. Our policy of prolonged sanctions is destroying
an entire society. Our sanctions are silent weapons of mass destruction
that are starving their children and making them sick to death. It
is a time for mercy to triumph over judgment.
We speak in the name of Jesus as we believe the spirit of Christ opposes
the spirit of genocide and invites a spirit of forgiveness. Now is
a time to loose rather than bind, a time to heal rather than to injure, a
time to pursue peace rather than to make war.
Perhaps the Magi [traditionally wise men] who came following the star of
Bethlehem bearing gifts for the Christ child, came from Iraq? When
they learned Herod intended harm to children, they returned to their country
by another route. Saddam’s policies and our sanctions are destroying
the children of Iraq. “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great
mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because
they are no more..’ Wise men and women will not assist policies of
genocide. They will find another way to go.
We pray we will pursue other ways than war to achieve the goal of peace.
Let October and November pass without war. Lift the sanctions by Christmas.
Use the body, soul, heart and mind of the nations to pursue other ways than
war to keep this new Herod [the fox] from getting into the chicken coop.
We ask our leaders to lift the sanctions rather than to beat the drums of
war. We do not wish to be overcome by evil but to overcome evil with
good, so let us feed our enemy by lifting the sanctions. We pray that
those who lead would seriously consider other ways than war and violence
to make peace.
Paul Versluis III, Pastor of the Shalom Community Church
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Excerpts from an address by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,
Feb. 25, 1967.
THE CASUALTIES OF THE WAR IN VIETNAM and BEYOND VIETNAM.
We are all aware of the nightmarish physical casualties. The casualties
of principles and values are equally disastrous and injurious. Indeed,
they are ultimately more harmful because they are self perpetuating.
One of the first casualties of the war in Vietnam was the Charter of the
United Nations. C chapter I, Article II,
‘all member shall refrain in their international relations from the threat
or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence
of any state or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes
of the United Nations.’
The second casualty of the war is the principle of self-determination.
------America has ended up supporting a new form of colonialism covered up
by certain niceties of complexity.------
The third casualty if the war is the Great Society.----We have escalated
the war in Vietnam and de-escalated the skirmish against poverty. It
challenges the imagination to contemplate what lives we could transform if
we were to cease killing..----I am increasingly compelled to see war as an
enemy of the poor.-
Another casualty -----is the humility of our nation. ---Our power has
often made us arrogant. We feel that our money can do anything.
We arrogantly feel that we have everything to teach other nations and nothing
to learn from them. We often arrogantly feel that we have some divine
messianic mission to police the whole world. We are arrogant in not
allowing young nations to go through the same growing pains,
turbulence and revolution that characterized our history. ------We
are arrogant in professing to be concerned about the freedom of foreign nations
while not setting our own house in order.
A fifth casualty----is the principle of dissent. An ugly repressive
sentiment to silence peace-seekers depicts advocates of immediate negotiation
and persons who call for a cessation of bombings in the north as quasi-traitors,
fools and venal enemies of our soldiers. When those who stand for peace
are so vilified it is time to consider where we are going and whether free
speech has not become one of the major casualties of the war.
Curtailment of free speech is rationalized on grounds that American tradition
forbids criticism of our government when the nation is at war. More
than a century ago when we were in a declared was with Mexico, a first term
congressman by the name of Abraham Lincoln stood in the halls of Congress
and fearlessly and scathingly denounced that war.
A sixth casualty---is the prospect of mankind's survival. This war
has created the climate for greater armament and further expansion of destructive
nuclear power. ------
So when I see the leaders of nations talking peace while preparing
for war------when I see the recalcitrant unwillingness of our government
to create the atmosphere for negotiated settlement---I tremble for our world.
The past is prophetic in that it asserts loudly that wars are poor chisels
for carving our peaceful tomorrows. One day we must come to see that
peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we
arrive at that goal. We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful
means.
President John F. Kennedy said on one occasion, “Mankind must put an end
to war or war will put an end to mankind.” Wisdom born of experience
should tell us that war is obsolete.----
We are presently moving down a dead end road that can lead to national disaster.--------
We must speak with all the humility that is appropriate to our limited vision,
but we must speak.
A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense
than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.
A genuine revolution of values means in the final analysis, that our loyalties
must become ecumenical rather than sectional. Every nation must now
develop an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve
the best in their individual societies.
from a booklet, “Clergy and Laymen Concerned About Vietnam
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“The Servant”
Kathy Cr
I love to read. My favorite reading material includes books on leadership
and development. I acquired quite a collection of books over the years
and often refer to them as business situations arise. A common complaint
I have with many business books is a conflict between my ethics
and those of the author. I have read books that boast of the authors
ability to cheat, lie and steal, and garishly teach the reader how to develop
those skills themselves. Other books are significantly less interesting
reading than stereo instructions.
Recently I had the pleasure ) of reading “The Servant” by James C. Hunter.
The book tells a simple story of a jaded businessman whose business and family
life were failing miserably and how he was able to develop leadership skills
from a monk at a monastery. At first I was hesitant to purchase the
book. After all, it is only 185 pages and the best books are big, right?
The principles of the course were not modern, new age ideas hatched by flash-in-the-pan
trendsetters. These leadership skills center on I Corinthians 13 masterfully
presented with real-life situations in business and personal life.
For those who need a refresher:
I Corinthians 13:4
“Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant,
or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or
resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth.
It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
(Holy Bible - NRSV)
How many of us lead by love? Do we take the time to lovingly correct
others when they do something incorrectly, or do we get angry and mock them?
Do we make time for others when we are busy or do we turn away others, choosing
not to see their need? Do we show the same consideration to co-workers
and our children?
Mr. Hunter’s book was eye opening for me. As a manager, I am responsible
for the quality other people deliver to the organization. That can
be very frustrating. Now I am able to make sure my expectations are
communicated with enough flexibility for the creative spark of others.
I make a conscious effort to offer both praise and correction with Christian
love focusing on the real prize of accomplishing quality; helping others
develop to their full potential. I realize too, that each time I make
an effort to appreciate and lovingly lead, I am blessed with a gift as well.
I’m not there yet. I suspect this will be a life lesson with lots of
practice, practice, practice.
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning about Mr. Hunter’s
leadership method. How refreshing to see Christian ethics brought into the
business world.
The book is available in most book stores and online. The ISBN number is
0-7615-1369-8. Or visit the website of the author (who resides in Michigan)
at www.jameshunter.com
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The following are letters written during the August Peace and Justice Interest
Group meeting.
This group meets every second Monday at7:30 at the Thackrey home.
Anyone is welcome to come.
The major focus to date has been the Afghanistan war, the crisis in the middle
east, and , currently,
our governments threat to invade Iraq.
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Dear President Bush,
I am writing in response to the continued discussion regarding Iraq, and
ask that you not take our country into was with them. Let us put our
energies into seeking peace instead----with all men. To that end I
pray.
In Christian love, Sherry Ty
8-12-02
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Dear Mr. President:
Do not attack Iraq.
Even though Saddam Hussein is a scoundrel, to attack him
now would make the U.S. the aggressor nation. Is that the reputation
you want to cultivate?
Even if he is over thrown, there is no guarantee that
the result would be a stable, democratic regime friendly to the U.S.
Do not squander American lives and resources.
Sincerely,
Janet Ry.
Dear Mr. President ,
--------------------------------------------
I urge you not to invade Iraq. More violence can only
deepen the wounds that years of sanctions and deprivation have inflicted
upon the Iraqi people.
The Iraqis are not likely to be won over to US style democracy
through a war that further tears apart their society. If your goal
is truly to create a safer world, we should work closely with other countries
and not just go it alone. Lasting security can not be achieved through
domination, but through cooperation.
Sincerely,
Laura Br.
Aug. 12, 2002
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Dear. Mr. President:
Our nation has a tradition of following international
law and not attacking other nations which have not overtly attacked us.
We would be grieved and horrified if another nation attacked us in order
to oust you as our leader.
Please do not go forward with a plan to attack Iraq.
I voted for you in 2000, but would regret this vote if you violate international
law and our tradition by invading a sovereign nation.
Respectfully,
Donald E. Ty
Dear President Bush,
----------------------------------------------------
A greeting of love.
I am working on a habit of praying for all world leaders, and surely
that also includes you. You all make decisions that build or destroy
lives of many people.
It is my prayer for you that you will have the courage and humility
to change course from the direction you seem to be moving to invade Iraq.
This would not be a legal action, and, as you know, you and this country
must not put ourselves above the law. To invade another country
would be an unpatriotic and immoral act. God loves you and our country,
but not more that other peoples of the world.
-Gertrude Wn
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Meanwhile: Answer to last issues ‘getting to know you’: Evie
Nafsiger taught HS dram and English in past years.
Mira Yoder, turned over for the first time May 15 and now can do so much
more.
Tom Brubaker spent 2 years in Mexico in voluntary service.
If you have something to tell about yourself or someone else, and I know
you do, call me or e-mail at g.wakrentin@att.net.
Thanks.
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LEXTIONARY: Sept/Oct.