Mennonites seek alternatives to war with Iraq

As the Bush administration continues to prime the American populace and the United Nations for war against Iraq, Mennonites-- Christians who have historically refused to participate in armed conflict -- have joined others in urging diplomatic and humanitarian responses in dealing with the human rights abuses and potential threats posed by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's leadership.

This advisory includes links to Mennonite agencies and resources, as well as contact information for the church's leading thinkers and advocates who are not only concerned about the moral implications of a war with Iraq, but also its ramifications for international security.

Mennonite Church USA
http://www.mennonitechurchusa.org/

More Than 17,000 Signatures
A letter to President George W. Bush from Mennonite Church USA Executive Director Jim Schrag calling for nonviolent alternatives to a war on Iraq was accompanied by a six-inch stack of more than 17,000 signatures from Mennonites across the U.S. Schrag, J. Daryl Byler, Director of the Mennonite Central Committee U.S. Washington Office who visited Iraq in May, and Susan Mark Landis, Peace Advocate for Mennonite Church USA, delivered the letter and signatures to the White House Sept.12. Mennonite churches continue to send signatures in support of the letter.

In the letter to President Bush, Schrag wrote, "The Mennonite worldwide community of faith works daily to plant peace and nurture justice in contexts of tension and violence. These global relationships, along with our 475 years of history as a Christian church, confirm our conviction that war is not the solution to our present stormy relationship with Iraq. We believe that war will not sow seeds of peace and security. There are workable alternatives to war that will increase security in the Middle East and for the United States."
http://peace.mennolink.org/resources/iraq5000/schragletter.html
Jim Schrag, Executive Director
Mennonite Church USA Executive Board
Contact by phone: 316-283-5100 e-mail: jims@mennoniteusa.org

Thinking Theologically About War Against Iraq
Ted Koontz spent several weeks in Iraq with a delegation from Mennonite Central Committee in 1999. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science (international relations) from Harvard University and says that he values the language of public policy in discussing the question of war with Iraq.

"Nevertheless," Koontz says, "as a teacher of Christian ethics, I believe that the language of public policy is a 'second language' for Christians, and that we ought to think and speak about war primarily in our 'first language,' the language of Christian faith and theology."

Ted Koontz, Professor of Ethics and Peace Studies
Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Elkhart, Ind.
Contact by phone: 574-296-6219 e-mail: tkoontz@ambs.edu

Peace Pledge
We choose to love our enemies and to act against war with Iraq.
The Peace and Justice Support Network of Mennonite Church USA is encouraging Mennonites and others to sign a peace pledge (found at the Peace and Justice Support Network Web site: http://peace.mennolink.org/resources/peacepledge/index.html).

Peace Flag
Some 2,000 peace flags produced by Mennonite Church USA have been sold since August, not only to Mennonites but also to Quakers, Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists, Unitarians and Jews. The flags feature the Mennonite Church logo (dove of peace with olive branch in beak) and the words, "Pray for Peace, Act for Peace." Flag buyers from other denominations are thanking Mennonites for putting hope into "war-weary hearts and prayers into words that the world can see."

Peace Sunday, November 10
In light of the nation's persistent preparations for war, Mennonite Church USA leaders are asking their congregations to designate Peace Sunday, Nov. 10, 2002, as a time for congregational discernment through prayer and fasting - to help each congregation discern God's call to local peacemaking action and broader Mennonite Church USA action.

CPT Sends Delegation to Iraq
A 14-member U.S. and Canadian delegation has just left Baghdad after spending a week as a nonviolent presence among the Iraqi people. CPT is sponsoring the Iraq delegation in cooperation with Voices in the Wilderness, a group that has campaigned against the U.S.-supported United Nations sanctions against Iraq for the past six years.

Claire Evans, Delegation Coordinator
Christian Peacemaker Teams
Contact by phone: 800-318-2843 e-mail: cpt@igc.org

Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) is a relief, service, and peace agency of the North American Mennonite and Brethren in Christ churches. MCC reflects the biblical call to care for the hungry and thirsty, the stranger, the sick and those in prison.
http://www.mcc.org/

MCC is preparing a million-dollar humanitarian aid package for the people of Iraq as war clouds gather. The package includes tents, blankets, relief kits, school kits and medicines. In the past decade MCC has shipped about $4.2 million worth of food and material assistance to Iraq. Only a handful of North American non-governmental organizations like MCC currently work in Iraq. Consequently, a number of North American agencies and organizations have expressed interest in supporting MCC's efforts to alleviate the suffering of the Iraqi people, should there be a war.
http://www.mcc.org/respond/rapid_respond/iraq/index.html

Based on its years of working in Iraq and the Middle East, MCC fears that a U.S. attempt to topple the regime of Saddam Hussein will further harm Iraqi civilians and increase the divide between the Arab and Western world.
MCC Washington Office -- http://www.mcc.org/us/washington/index.html

Costly War -- Lost in the build-up for this war has been any serious admission by the Bush administration of the short- and long-term consequences of an unprovoked, preemptive U.S. attack on Iraq. Even though the United States has overwhelming military power, this will not be a quick and easy war as it is sometimes portrayed. The costs will be many. http://peace.mennolink.org/articles/costwardaryl.html
J. Daryl Byler, Director
Mennonite Central Committee U.S. Washington Office
Contact by phone: (202) 544-6564 e-mail: jdb@mcc.org

Other articles by Daryl Byler on Iraq
* An Open Letter to Condoleezza Rice -http://www.thirdway.com/wv/article.asp?A_ID=120&Submit=Go
* U.S.-Iraq Policy: Has the Die for War Been Cast? -- Under both President Clinton and the current President Bush, U.S. policy goals have expanded from simply ridding Iraq of the capacity to produce weapons of mass destruction to include ridding Iraq of Saddam Hussein.
http://www.mcc.org/areaserv/middleeast/iraq/articles/die_war.html

MCC United Nations Office -- http://www.mcc.org/bi/un/index.html
News and Views at the United Nations
Alarming Realities: Law and Oil in Jeopardy
The standoff between the United States and Iraq becomes ever more ominous. Keeping the conflict between Iraq and the international community firmly within the frame of reference of the United Nations is essential. Only then is it possible to demand compliance of all parties with international law.
http://www.mcc.org/respub/un/2002/05_aug/alarming.html
John Rempel, Mennonite Central Committee Liaison to the United Nations
Contact by phone: (212) 223-4062 e-mail: unoffice@mcc.org

Why does MCC staff a liaison office at the United Nations?
MCC supports the UN because the four goals of the UN fit with a Christian vision of God's will for the world. As the only international institution in which the most powerful nations are held accountable to the least powerful ones, the UN, at its best, acts as a set of moral principles and political mechanisms that mediate political, economic and military conflict in pursuit of basic well-being for all. The perennial problem of the UN is that it is too weak, not that it is too strong. Great danger lies in the self-interest of its member states, which allow only what suits their national agendas. As supporters of the UN, we advocate alternatives to domination and self-interest as the basis of world order.
MCC Liaison Mission -- http://www.mcc.org/bi/un/mcc_mission.html

Staying ahead of the rising tide of terror
"It's time to move past 'do we or don't we shellac Saddam' to the stuff burning holes in our hearts," writes Ron Kraybill in an Oct. 29, 2002, commentary in the Christian Science Monitor. He says security, "to know that when we say goodbye to our families in the morning we'll live to say hello again over the dinner table at night," is what we're really after.

Dr. Kraybill previously served as training director at the Center for Conflict Resolution in South Africa and as director of Mennonite Conciliation Service in the U.S. He has also developed training programs at conflict resolution centers throughout Africa and North America and has led training seminars in Europe and Asia.

Kraybill explains how, "the genies of mass destruction are already out of the bottle. They're getting cheaper and more accessible by the year and worse ones are coming." He argues that the United States must update its notions of security from relying on sophisticated weaponry to deter aggression. "We've been victims of attack by groups that should have been deterred and weren't. But for such occasions we trust in superior strength to limit damage and defeat the deterred...."

"There's an old saying: If the only tool you have is a hammer, everything you see is a nail." Kraybill concludes that to survive, America will have to "demonstrate that we have more tools than big hammers."
http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1029/p11s02-coop.html
Ronald S. Kraybill, Professor of Conflict Studies
Conflict Transformation Program
Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, Va.
Contact by phone: 540-432-4498 e-mail: kraybilr@emu.edu

A Handbook of International Peacebuilding: Into The Eye Of The Storm
(Sept. 2002 - Jossey-Bass)
John Paul Lederach and Janice Moomaw Jenner, Editors
Offers conflict resolution professionals working (or planning to work) in foreign countries a step-by-step guide for dealing with difficult and potentially dangerous disputes in other nations.
http://www.josseybass.com/cda/product/0,,0787958794,00.html
* John Paul Lederach, Distinguished Scholar
Eastern Mennonite University's Conflict Transformation Program and Professor of International Peacebuilding
Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies
University of Notre Dame
Contact by e-mail: jpbus@aol.com
* Janice Moomaw Jenner, Director
Institute for Justice and Peacebuilding
Conflict Transformation Program, Eastern Mennonite University
Contact by phone: 540-432-4238 e-mail: jennerjm@emu.edu
EMU Conflict Transformation Program
http://www.emu.edu/ctp/

Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective
Article 22: "Peace, Justice and Nonresistance" (adopted in 1995)
Excerpts:
We believe that peace is the will of God. God created the world in peace, and God's peace is most fully revealed in Jesus Christ, who is our peace and the peace of the whole world. Led by the Holy Spirit, we follow Christ in the way of peace, doing justice, bringing reconciliation, and practicing nonresistance even in the face of violence and warfare.
As disciples of Christ, we do not prepare for war, or participate in war or military service. The same Spirit that empowered Jesus also empowers us to love enemies, to forgive rather than to seek revenge, to practice right relationships, to rely on the community of faith to settle disputes, and to resist evil without violence.
Led by the Spirit, and beginning in the church, we witness to all people that violence is not the will of God. We witness against all forms of violence, including war among nations, hostility among races and classes, abuse of children and women, violence between men and women, abortion, and capital punishment.
Find the full document at http://www.mennolink.org/doc/cof/art.22.html

Third Way Cafe -- http://www.thirdway.com/
Produced by Mennonite Media on behalf of the Mennonite Churches of the U.S. and Canada, under the sponsorship of Mennonite Mission Network. The name, Third Way Caf', suggests that usually there are not just two choices or options, but a third or alternate way between two choices. It also reflects the fact that Mennonites and other Anabaptists are somewhere between Catholic and Protestant on many theological issues--a third way.

Wider View features weekly essays and articles on various public policy issues; many currently having to do with Mennonite response/thought regarding Iraq policies (e-mail subscription available).
http://www.thirdway.com/wv/archive.asp

Peace Blend -- Pages with wide background on Mennonite understandings regarding peacemaking teachings of Jesus and what it means for current life/contemporary society.
http://www.thirdway.com/peace/
The Peace Blend section is also available entirely in Spanish at
http://menonitas.net/paz/

http://www.thirdway.com/peace?S=1&P_ID=3
* A New Patriotism - Mennonite sermons, essays and op-ed pieces/personal experiences after September 11, 2001. http://www.thirdway.com/peace/patriotism.asp
* Questions raised by the current war on terrorism

http://www.thirdway.com/peace/?S=3&P_ID=2
* An historical overview of Mennonite responses to other wars throughout U.S. history
http://thirdway.com/peace/?S=3&P_ID=3
* Basic "peace church" beliefs
http://thirdway.com/peace/?S=3&P_ID=4
* True stories of current peacemakers -- a rich variety of peaceful responses to conflict situations. A new story each month. E-mail subscription available. http://www.thirdway.com/peace/stories.asp
* An examination of treatment of war in the Old Testament Jewish and Christian scriptures
http://thirdway.com/peace/?S=3&P_ID=5
* Resources from Mennonites and others on peace