Anti-war religious leaders discuss lessons of war

The Associated Press --  May 1, 2003

CHICAGO --  With widespread opinion that the war in Iraq was both successful and justified, religious leaders - most of whom were critical of the war - gathered in Chicago Wednesday to try to influence what happens now. 

"The purpose of this is to look at the next steps in the healing process, to talk about the consequences of war," said the Rev. Robert Edgar, general secretary of the National Council of Churches, who moderated the summit of religious leaders, primarily Christian, Jewish and Muslim.

In a joint statement approximately 80 religious leaders from across the nation called for U.S. forces in Iraq to immediately give way to the United Nations and other nonmilitary organizations. 

The group also asked that the United States "draw back from the use and threat of first strike war" and commit U.S. resources to help Iraq rebuild.

But as the group called for these measures, the question hanging over the heads of the religious leaders is whether they will have any influence at a time when the decision to go to war remains a popular one.

I don't think we were weakened," said Sayyid M. Syeed, secretary general of the Islamic Society of North America and a critic of the war. "I think we can still be of influence in bringing people back together."

Some religious leaders said that already is happening.

Rabbi David Saperstein, the director of the Religious Action Center of Reformed Judaism, said religious leaders will continue to have "tremendous impact" on the country's leaders as well as the public in the aftermath of the war. Saperstein, whose organization supported the war as morally justified, said religious leaders were at the center of the debate that influenced military strategies that minimized the number of civilian casualties in Iraq. As evidence, he pointed to a recent meeting with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and about a dozen religious leaders including himself at the Pentagon. During the meeting he said Rumsfeld outlined how targets were selected to keep the number of civilian casualties to a minimum.

In fact, Edgar, a peace activist, and others said they believed their standing in both inside and outside their organizations has been strengthen by their anti-war stance. And Syeed said the influence of religious leaders has increased as they have pulled together to oppose the war. "We may not have stopped a major storm," he said of the war. "But what was started has taken on a life of its own."

Those who had attended the summit in Chicago also said they weren't particularly concerned that when they go back to their pulpits, those in the pews will dismiss what they have to say. Many pointed out that there is nothing new about religious leaders taking unpopular positions, saying the clergy has a long history of being at the forefront of unpopular causes, including the civil rights movement.

"(The clergy has) been proven right over and over again," said Saperstein. Steven Jacobs, a Los Angeles-area rabbi, believes that is happening with the war in Iraq. He said people in his congregation who disagreed with his anti-war position are now raising questions of their own. "I have seen more people beginning to doubt what our leaders are telling them," he said. "They're starting to wonder if they were lied to."

Unitarian Universalist Association
25 Beacon St. | Boston, MA 02108 | 617-742-2100