UUs, from the Allen Avenue UU Church in Maine, march for peace in Washington DC
UUA President Invites Congregations to Work for Peace
February 11, 2008
Dear Friends,Last March, and again in September, I sent Congress a Moral Balance Sheet outlining some of the human consequences of our outrageous war spending. The calculations were horrific then, and our deficit has only gotten worse in the year since we first began witnessing to the true cost of the war. Unitarian Universalists demanded government accountability in what proved to be the deadliest year ever for U.S. troops in Iraq. In October, I delivered to the Senate and House Leadership more than 13,000 of your signatures on a petition calling for “an end to the war in Iraq, an end to our reliance on violence as the first, rather than the last resort, and an end to the arrogant unilateralism of preemptive war.”
And now, nearly a year later, Congress again is asking us to support this unjust war—to support it both morally and financially. President Bush recently submitted his 2009 federal budget, which includes $515.4 billion for the Pentagon, an increase of 7.5% over 2008 and the highest percentage since WWII. And the human cost also continues to mount. We are likely to lose our 4,000th soldier sometime this March.
But hope is still alive. Last year we saw the administration engage in diplomatic talks that included Syria and Iran. We also saw U.S. forces in Iraq form partnerships with local populations, many of whom were previously considered “insurgents.” These diplomatic achievements are widely acknowledged as a major contributing factor to the temporary decrease in violence. But we cannot rest. We must work to make the decrease permanent, and we must not stop until the bloodshed in Iraq ceases all together.
This March, I invite you to recommit yourselves and your congregations to building a peaceful world by participating in our campaign, "March to Peace." Upcoming opportunities to take action include the March 7th Interfaith Witness for Peace (where I will be speaking), observations of the 5th Anniversary of the start of the Iraq War, and the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee’s annual Justice Sunday on March 30th. We are also nearing the mid-point of our four-year commitment to the Congregational Study/Action Issue of Peacemaking. There is much we can do to educate ourselves and to speak truth to power.
We have listed additional ways to March to Peace on our webpage, and we expect to share many other efforts by Unitarian Universalists working for peace. We have set a goal of 25% participation throughout our movement—that’s 250 congregations. We would be happy to exceed that goal, but in order to do so we need you to visit our webpage and join our March to Peace. Please take action today.
In Faith,
Rev. William G. Sinkford
President
For more information contact la_international @ uua.org.
Last updated on Tuesday, March 4, 2008.
