[amc] Bush Spurns Counsel from 20 Methodist (his denomination) Bishops

From: "Ray Gingerich" <RGingerich@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "ACPJ" <acpj@xxxxxxxxxx>,"Austin Mennonite Church" <amc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 3 Feb 2003 18:40:15 -0800
46 religious leaders ask urgent meeting with Bush on Iraq
President rejects Jan. 30 request
by Carol Fouke, National Council of Churches News

NEW YORK - Citing the "utmost urgency" of their request, 46 U.S. religious
leaders who have been working "to slow the rush to war" with Iraq today
petitioned President George W. Bush for a face-to-face meeting.

Bush rejected the request.

War is not only a military matter, write the leaders - from 11 denominations
and four organizations, including 20 United Methodist bishops. "It is a
moral and ethical matter of the highest order, one that we have made a
priority for many months as the possibility of war has loomed on our
national horizon."

Presbyterian Church (USA) signers of the letter included the Rev. Roberto
Delgado of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico; General Assembly stated clerk Clifton
Kirkpatrick; and the Rev. Robina Winbush, ecumenical officer for the Office
of the General Assembly.

The 46 leaders of tens of millions of Protestant and Orthodox Christians
across the United States note that they are in communication with their
clergy, lay leaders and church members across the nation and with their
counterparts in Europe and elsewhere around the globe on this issue.

Active in the search for peaceful solutions to the Iraq crisis since August,
religious leaders "have become all the more alarmed as U.S. military
activity keeps escalating," said the Rev. Bob Edgar, general secretary of
the National Council of Churches, which facilitated circulation of the
letter for signatures. "We want to meet with the President before he decides
to go to war with Iraq."

The full text of the letter, dated Jan. 30:

Dear Mr. President:

We greet you-our President, our nation's highest military leader, and a
member of the community of faith-in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

At a time when our nation, and you as its leader, face unprecedented
challenges affecting the security of the United States and of the entire
world, we wish to bring to you the insights and perspective of one of the
largest segments of the Christian community of our country.

Because you are weighing the prospect of war on Iraq and all the terrible
consequences that war involves, you will have faced firsthand the truth that
war is not only-or even primarily-a military matter. It is a moral and 
ethical matter of the highest order, one that we have made a priority for
many months as the possibility of war has loomed on our national horizon.

As leaders of tens of millions of Protestant and Orthodox Christians across
the United States, we are in touch with our clergy, with lay leaders and
with church members everywhere on this issue. We are also in communication
with our counterparts in Europe and elsewhere around the globe. Several of
us have traveled to Iraq in recent years, and even in recent days, to speak
with Iraqi people of faith. We draw on the tenets of our Christian faith in
all these encounters, seeking a way toward peace that is both prophetic and
practical.

It is with the utmost urgency that we seek a meeting with you to convey
face-to-face the message of the religious community that we represent on the
moral choices that confront this nation and your Administration. You are no
doubt well aware of our activities to slow the rush to war and our
continuing uneasiness about the moral justification for war on Iraq. What we
ask now, as fellow believers and as the spiritual leaders of Americans in
congregations in every community of our great nation, is a pastoral
opportunity to bring this message to you in person.

Be assured of our prayers always for you and the members of your
Administration, that God may keep and guide you.
[amc] Bush Spurns Counsel from 20 Methodist (his denomination) Bishops

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