Ahead of the fifth anniversary of the March 19 invasion of Iraq, the general secretary of the National Council of Churches (NCC) has reiterated the conviction held by many US churches that the war has been a ‘disastrous mistake’ and should be brought to an end.
Speaking on behalf of the NCC’s 35 member communions, all of whom have been critical of the war, the Rev Dr Michael Kinnamon said the war intended to make America safe from terrorism “has made this country less secure.” “Anyone can observe that US aggression is spawning new generations of terrorists,” Kinnamon said, “but the Christian critique runs deeper. Because human life is interdependent, because we are all children of one Creator, security can never be won through unilateral defense.”
The NCC is the ecumenical voice of America’s Orthodox, Protestant, Anglican, historic African American and traditional peace churches. The 35 member communions have 45 million members in 100,000 congregations in all 50 states.
He quoted Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, who said: “There is no security apart from common security.”
“Israeli security depends, finally, on Palestinians having a stake in the development of the Middle East,” Kinnamon said. “U.S. security depends, among other things, on addressing the economic and social disparities that help fuel hatred of this nation.”
Common security is not born out of Christian idealism but is a practical approach to peace, Kinnamon said.
“Christians are realistic about evil in the world and, therefore, about the threat of terrorism,” he said. “We reject any ideology, however, which demonizes others while claiming all righteousness for ourselves; and we refuse to define life as a zero-sum game in which our security is gained at the expense of others.”