WISDOM FROM THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES
A Multigenerational Tapestry of Faith Program
WORKSHOP 4: THE BATTLE OF JERICHO
BY REV. THOMAS R. SCHADE GAIL FORSYTH-VAIL
© Copyright 2011 Unitarian Universalist Association.
Published to the Web on 9/30/2014 12:26:32 AM PST.
This program and additional resources are available on the UUA.org web site at
www.uua.org/religiouseducation/curricula/tapestryfaith.
WORKSHOP OVERVIEW
INTRODUCTION
But for the natives in these parts, God hath so pursued them, as for 300 miles space the greatest part of them are swept away by smallpox which still continues among them. So as God hath thereby cleared our title to this place, those who remain in these parts, being in all not 50, have put themselves under our protection. — Governor John Winthrop of Massachusetts, 1634
After the Israelites passed over the River Jordan, at the end of their long journey in the desert, they proceeded to conquer Canaan. This workshop tells the story of how the Israelites conquered the walled city of Jericho, a story celebrated in song and story to this day. In this familiar story, they marched around the city walls, the priests sounding the ram's horns, and walls came tumbling down when the Hebrew people shouted in unison.
It is a mixed story, morally, and retelling it offers opportunities for all ages to engage with some of the moral dilemmas presented by the text. The story is inspirational: Modern protest movements are inspired by the story of a mighty city being defeated by marching people and thunderous chants. On the other hand, the story is very troubling: Joshua is told that the city of Jericho and everything in it belongs to God, and through God, to them. Although the city is taken by apparently non-violent means, Joshua's troops put almost all the people and all the livestock in the city to death following the conquest.
The workshop asks participants to consider why a story like this is included in the Bible. Key questions include: What was the purpose of this narrative in the minds of those who first recorded it? What would it mean if this story were true? What would it mean if this story were false? What do we learn about God—or about people's perceptions of God—from this story? What insight and wisdom does it offer us today? What are examples in modern times of God depicted as a mighty battle God, bringing victory to those he favors and justifying war?
This workshop continues a pattern of activities that frame all of the workshops in this program. Congregations may wish to establish their own patterns for this series of workshops, perhaps arranging for refreshments or a meal to precede or follow each workshop. Before leading this workshop, review the Accessibility Guidelines for Workshop Presenters found in the program Introduction and make any accommodations necessary for your group.
GOALS
This workshop will:
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will:
WORKSHOP-AT-A-GLANCE
Activity | Minutes |
Welcoming and Entering | 0 |
Opening | 10 |
Activity 1: The Battle of Jericho | 15 |
Activity 2: Retelling the Story | 10 |
Activity 3: Right or Wrong? True or False? | 10 |
Activity 4: Explaining Small Group Options | 5 |
Activity 5: Discussion — Option 1 | 25 |
Activity 6: Newscasts from Jericho — Option 2 | 25 |
Activity 7: Questioning Joshua and the Storyteller — Option 3 | 25 |
Faith in Action | |
Closing | 15 |
Alternate Activity 1: The Spies and the Red Chord | 25 |
SPIRITUAL PREPARATION
Can you recall a time in your life when you obtained something important for your well-being for which you had planned and waited a long time (such as a home, citizenship, a sought-after job, a needed medical procedure)? If you cannot think of such a story in your own life, is there a family story of this type? Consider these questions:
Reflect on how you might have answered these questions as an eight-year-old child, a fourteen-year-old youth, or a young adult making your way in the world. Envision the way you would like to respond when you are an elder, looking back on your life.
Bring each person in your group into your mind and hold them in appreciative thought and/or prayer.
WORKSHOP PLAN
WELCOMING AND ENTERING
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
As people arrive, introduce yourself and invite them to make a name tag and sign in.
OPENING (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Bring participants together and welcome them. Invite a volunteer to light the chalice as you share a favorite children's chalice lighting used by your congregation.
Ask participants: is there a story told in your family about how you came to live where you live today? Invite each person or family group to briefly share their story. Tell participants that this workshop includes a Bible story told by King David's writers about how the Hebrew people came to live where they did.
ACTIVITY 1: THE BATTLE OF JERICHO (15 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Using the information in Leader Resource 1, Joshua, Rahab, and the Battle of Jericho Background Information, briefly set the stage for the story. Keep the background information brief, and offer copies of Leader Resource 1 to those who wish to take it home.
Explain that this story talks about the Ark of the Covenant, a large decorated box that carried stone tablets inscribed with Hebrew laws said to have been written by God. Show Leader Resource 2, Ark of the Covenant Picture, and explain that according to the Bible, this is what the Ark of the Covenant looked like. Say, "In this story, God is a mighty battle God who makes sure that the Hebrews defeat the people of Jericho and take over the city."
Read the story aloud.
ACTIVITY 2: RETELLING THE STORY (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Invite participants to take on the various roles, asking questions to set the scene before choosing any volunteer actors. Ask:
After the actors are in place, ask: "What happens first? And next?" Guide participants through a re-enactment of the story, asking at appropriate intervals, "What is Joshua thinking and feeling? How about his troops? How do the people inside the walls of Jericho feel? What do the spies do? Why do you think Rahab decides to help them? How does she do that? Encourage those who are not actors to make suggestions and offer encouragement to those who are acting out the story.
After the re-enactment, invite participants to offer comments, observations, and insights about the story.
ACTIVITY 3: RIGHT OR WRONG? TRUE OR FALSE? (10 MINUTES)
Description of Activity
Invite participants to discuss the story:
ACTIVITY 4: EXPLAINING SMALL GROUP OPTIONS (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Explain options for small processing groups and point out breakout spaces. Explain that participants may choose any of the options that appeal to them. There is not one group for children, another for youth, and another for adults. All groups can have a mix of ages. Invite at least one adult or youth participant to take part in each breakout group, and ask those volunteers to set a tone that welcomes multigenerational participation.
ACTIVITY 5: DISCUSSION — OPTION 1 (25 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Invite participants to discuss the questions posted on newsprint. Use some of these questions to provoke, guide or further the discussion, as needed:
ACTIVITY 6: NEWSCASTS FROM JERICHO — OPTION 2 (25 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Description of Activity
Invite participants to pretend that there was television news coverage in Joshua and Rahab's day. Explain that different members of your group are going to plan to report on the events in the story from both inside and outside the walls of Jericho. Invite some participants to create the "outside the walls" scenario, including a reporter interviewing Joshua and his troops. Invite some participants to create the "inside the walls" scenario, including a reporter interviewing the spies, Rahab, and other residents of Jericho. Ask both the "inside the walls" group and the "outside the walls" group to gather in their groups for ten minutes to compose some good reporter questions and rehearse their interviews. After ten minutes, stage your newscast, alternating "inside the walls" interviews with "outside the walls" interviews, using a microphone or similar prop. You may wish to videotape the entire newscast.
At the conclusion of the newscasts, compare the thoughts and feelings of the different groups. How did their descriptions of the same events differ from one another? If you have videotaped the newscast, decide how you will share it with the congregation.
ACTIVITY 7: QUESTIONING THE STORYTELLER – OPTION 3 (25 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Invite participants to think about the storyteller who wrote down the story of the Battle of Jericho and included it in the Bible. What did that person think about God? What did that person think about the Hebrews? What did that person think about the Canaanites who lived in Jericho?
Invite participants to imagine that they can send their questions and thoughts about the story across time to the unnamed storyteller. Distribute white or ecru construction paper and invite participants to ask questions, agree or disagree with the storyteller, make comments, draw pictures, or make a collage or other creation for the teller of this story. Participants may wish to work as a group to figure out some of the ideas they wish to convey, before working on individual creations.
CLOSING (15 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Create a worship service, weaving together contributions from all of the breakout groups. Do not over-script the worship service, but rather create a worshipful "container" to hold all of the insights, thoughts, feelings, creations, and contributions of participants. At the end of the worship, extinguish the chalice and read the words of Elizabeth Selle Jones, Reading 456 in the hymnbook, or choose a benediction or closing words familiar to participants. Distribute Taking It Home.
FAITH IN ACTION
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
The story of the battle of Jericho is a morally ambiguous story, which challenges us to reaffirm our Unitarian Universalist commitment to peace. Distribute Leader Resource 4, Statement of Conscience on Creating Peace, and invite participants to read it. While adults read, explain what is in the statement in simple terms so that all participants can understand, saying: "Unitarian Universalists promise to work for peace in the family, in the community, and in the world in three ways. We will work to make sure people are treated fairly (peacebuilding); provide ways for people to talk to one another and reach agreements (peacemaking); and take action to help stop conflicts, wars, and violence if it starts (peacekeeping)."
As a group, take on a project to raise awareness of the Statement of Conscience in your congregation and local community. One possible project is the installation of a peace pole near your congregation's meeting house. The website of The Peace Pole Project (at www.peacepoleproject.org/) has this to say:
A Peace Pole is an internationally-recognized symbol of the hopes and dreams of the entire human family, standing vigil in silent prayer for peace on earth. Each Peace Pole bears the message May Peace Prevail on Earth in different languages on each of its four or six sides. There are tens of thousands of Peace Poles in nearly every country in the world dedicated as monuments to peace.
Your organization is invited to plant a Peace Pole at each of your centers to highlight the important work you do in many countries to bring about world peace through inner peace. Your Peace Poles would symbolize your mission and simultaneously link your work with that of people of all faiths and nationalities worldwide who are striving for a better world. Won't you join this great network of peace?
Join with people of all ages to move a proposal for such a pole through the congregation's decision-making and fundraising processes, inviting children, youth, and adults to explain what peace means to them and why the installation of the pole will serve as a visible reminder of the Unitarian Universalist Statement of Conscience on Creating Peace. Engage people of all ages in designing an appropriate dedication ceremony for the pole, and invite local media to the event.
LEADER REFLECTION AND PLANNING
Take a few minutes to talk with your co-facilitator about how the workshop went, using these questions as a guide:
TAKING IT HOME
But for the natives in these parts, God hath so pursued them, as for 300 miles space the greatest part of them are swept away by smallpox which still continues among them. So as God hath thereby cleared our title to this place, those who remain in these parts, being in all not 50, have put themselves under our protection. — Governor John Winthrop of Massachusetts, 1634
The story of Joshua and the battle of Jericho is one that has echoes in our national history. With people of all ages in your family, retell the stories that you have learned about the founding of your own town, county, state, or nation. Do you all know and understand the story the same way or are there different perspectives? Are there voices in your local history that are not usually heard (e.g. indigenous people, immigrant groups, child laborers, and women). Visit local history exhibits or talk with community elders to fill in some of the gaps. Share a more complete story of your community's founding with others.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 1: THE SPIES AND THE RED CHORD (25 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Invite participants to retell the story of Rahab and the spies, a story within the larger narrative. Explain that the spies were hidden under a pile of flax. Show pictures of flax growing and explain that the seeds of the plant can be eaten, while the stalks are used to make roofs or to weave into clothing. Indicate which materials you will use as pretend flax.
Give each participant three pieces of red yard and invite them to tie the three together and braid them to make a chord. Teach those who do not know how to braid.
Once the chords are made, take turns acting out Rahab hiding the spies, letting them out her window and over the wall using rope, and placing the red chord in her window so that Joshua's troops would spare her family.
WISDOM FROM THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES: WORKSHOP 4:
STORY: THE BATTLE OF JERICHO
Joshua 1: 1-3, Joshua 2:1-7,15-18, 21, Joshua 6: 1-25 (New Revised Standard Version)
... The Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun... saying, "... Now proceed to cross the Jordan [River], you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, the Israelites. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you... .
Then Joshua son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittum as spies, saying, "Go, view the land, especially Jericho." So they went, and entered the house of a woman [Note: the biblical text uses the word prostitute here] whose name was Rahab, and spent the night there. The king of Jericho was told, "Some Israelites have come here tonight to search out the land." Then the king of Jericho sent orders to Rahab, "Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come only to search out the whole land." But the woman took the two men and hid them. Then she said, "True, the men did come to me, but I did not know where they came from. And when it was time to close the gate at dark, the men went out. Where the men went I do not know. Pursue them quickly, for you can overtake them." She had, however, brought them up to the roof and hidden them with the stalks of flax she had lain out on the roof. So the men pursued them on the way to Jordan as far as the fords. As soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut...
Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the outer side of the city wall and she resided within the wall itself. She said to them, "Go toward the hill country, so that the pursuers may not come upon you. Hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers have returned; then afterward you may go your way." The men said to her, "... tie this crimson cord in the window through which you let us down ... and gather into your house your father and mother, your brothers, and all your family... " She said, "According to your words, so be it." She sent them away and they departed. Then she tied a crimson cord in the window.
Now Jericho was shut up inside and out because of the Israelites; no one came out and no one went in. The Lord said to Joshua,"See, I have handed Jericho over to you, along with its king and soldiers. You shall march around the city, all the warriors circling the city once. Thus you shall do for six days, with seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark. On the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, the priests blowing the trumpets. When they make a long blast with the ram's horn, as soon as you shall hear the sound of the trumpet, then all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and all the people shall charge straight ahead." So Joshua son of Nun summoned the priests and said to them, "Take up the Ark of the Covenant, and have seven priests carry seven trumpets of rams' horns in front of the ark of the Lord." To the people he said, "Go forward and march around the city; have the armed men pass on before the ark of the Lord."
As Joshua had commanded the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the Lord went forward, blowing the trumpets, with the ark of the covenant of the Lord following them. And the armed men went before the priests who blew the trumpets; the rear guard came after the ark, while the trumpets blew continually. To the people Joshua gave this command: "You shall not shout or let your voice be heard, nor shall you utter a word, until the day I tell you to shout. Then you shall shout." So the ark of the Lord went around the city, circling it once; and they came into the camp, and spent the night in the camp.
Then Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the Lord. The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the Lord passed on, blowing the trumpets continually. The armed men went before them, and the rear guard came after the ark of the Lord, while the trumpets blew continually. On the second day they marched around the city once and then returned to the camp. They did this for six days.
On the seventh day they rose early, at dawn, and marched around the city in the same manner seven times. It was only on that day that they marched around the city seven times. And at the seventh time, when the priests had blown the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, "Shout! For the Lord has given you the city. The city and all that is in it shall be devoted to the Lord for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute [woman] and all who are with her in her house shall live because she hid the messengers we sent. As for you, keep away from the things devoted to destruction, so as not to covet and take any of the devoted things and make the camp of Israel an object for destruction, bringing trouble upon it. But all silver and gold, and vessels of bronze and iron, are sacred to the Lord; they shall go into the treasury of the Lord." So the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown. As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpets, they raised a great shout, and the wall fell down flat; so the people charged straight ahead into the city and captured it. Then they devoted to destruction by the edge of the sword all in the city, both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys.
Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, "Go into the prostitute's [woman's] house, and bring the woman out of it and all who belong to her, as you swore to her." So the young men who had been spies went in and brought Rahab out, along with her father, her mother, her brothers, and all who belonged to her- they brought all her kindred out- and set them outside the camp of Israel. They burned down the city, and everything in it; only the silver and gold, and the vessels of bronze and iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord. But Rahab..., with all her family and all who belonged to her, Joshua spared. Her family has lived in Jericho ever since. For she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Israel.
WISDOM FROM THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES: WORKSHOP 4:
LEADER RESOURCE 1: JOSHUA, RAHAB, AND THE BATTLE OF JERICHO BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The book of Joshua continues the history of the Hebrew people that was written by historians in King David's court. The central story of the Hebrews, as presented in the biblical history, is their escape from slavery in Egypt. The Book of Exodus ends with the people of Israel camped at the shores of the Jordan River. Forty years previously, they had crossed the Red Sea, where Pharaoh's army was drowned. They have wandered in the Sinai desert for forty years before coming to this place. Moses, their leader, has died, and the new leader of the Hebrews is Joshua, son of Nun, who had been Moses' assistant.
According to the story, the land beyond the Jordan River was the Promised Land, land that had been given to the Hebrews by God. But even as the Hebrews prepared to cross the River and lay claim to the land, called Canaan, they knew it was not empty. People of other tribes and nations lived there.
The stories in the book of Joshua tell how the Hebrews conquered the people of Canaan and took their land for their kingdom. It was centuries between the time of the Exodus and the reign of David. Some of the stories are historically factual and others are legends and folktales. And they are nationalistic mythology, putting forth a narrative that says God ordained and supported the Hebrews' coming to power over all the cities and people of Canaan. Therefore, these self-aggrandizing legends depend, to some extent, on the dehumanization of the defeated Canaanites.
The story of the battle of Jericho is the tale of one of the first great battles of Israel's conquest of Canaan. Jericho was a large and important city in the Jordan River valley just west of the river. It was a walled city and no one could enter or leave, so the walls had to come down in order for the city to be conquered.
The story is dramatic, but morally ambiguous. The storyteller explains that Joshua and his troops are told that everything in the city belongs to God, and through God, to them. Joshua sends spies into the city to check it out, and when the King of Jericho becomes suspicious of the strangers, they are hidden by Rahab, a Canaanite woman. She is called a prostitute in the story, although scholars disagree about the translation. Regardless of her occupation, she helps the Hebrew spies, and in so doing, extracts a promise that she and her family will be spared in the coming battle.
Joshua's troops follow God's complicated orders and the walls of the city come tumbling down by non-violent means. It is an inspiring story of how a weaker force can defeat a stronger force through commitment and discipline.
But after the walls come down, the story becomes much more troubling. God requires every person, cattle, sheep, and donkey in the city to be put to death by Joshua's conquering army, with the exception of Rahab and her family, who are spared. All of the wealth of the city is taken by Joshua's army for God; they are not allowed to keep any for themselves. The care and specificity of the writers in including these details may indicate an additional purpose to the narrative. By saying that all the Canaanite residents of Jericho were killed, the story indicates that the Israelites were the ethnically pure descendants of the Hebrews in Egypt. They did not intermarry and have children with the Canaanite people. Through this story, they defend themselves against the charge that they were a plundering conquering people grown wealthy by taking the possessions of others.
WISDOM FROM THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES: WORKSHOP 4:
LEADER RESOURCE 2: ARK OF THE COVENANT PICTURE
WISDOM FROM THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES: WORKSHOP 4:
LEADER RESOURCE 3: CREATING THE CLOSING WORSHIP
In this program, the closing worship circle offers a time for the group to come back together to enrich each other's understanding of the story and of their own life experience. This is not a show-and-tell experience, but rather a participatory, co-created worship experience. You will need to do just enough planning to provide a container for participants to share with one another and grow in spirit. You cannot script a co-created worship service, but you can guide it so that all participants feel heard and valued, and all hear and value the voices and experiences of others, regardless of age or life stage. With practice, you and the participants will become adept at co-creating worship to end each workshop.
Here are suggested elements for the closing worship for Workshop 4, The Battle of Jericho. Add, subtract, and adapt to fit your situation:
Opening words
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field. I'll meet you there. — Rumi
Chalice lighting
Use chalice lighting words familiar to your congregation or use Reading 452 from Singing the Living Tradition.
Telling the Story of Rahab and the Spies
If you had a group using Alternate Activity 1, The Spies and the Red Chord, invite them to act out that part of the story.
Newscasts from Jericho
Continue the story of the fall of Jericho; invite the group that created the newscasts (Activity 6) to share some of their interviews.
Questioning the storyteller
Invite members of the Questioning the Storyteller group (Activity 7) to share their comments, disagreements, and responses to the unknown teller of this story. Place the creations on the worship table or tape them to the edge of the table.
What does this story tell us about ourselves?
Invite the discussion group to share some of their comments and insights about what this story meant when it was written down and how we look at it today. How has the moral meaning of this story changed over time? What bearing does it have on our lives today?
Meditation/prayer
Begin a meditation or prayer as you normally would in your congregation. Then say, "This story is a difficult story, because the people in it did not behave in a way that was fair and just." Invite participants to remember times when they have not been treated fairly or justly, and say, "We remember how we felt to have that happen." Then say, "There are times when we have not treated people fairly or when we have hit or hurt someone" and invite participants to hold those moments in their hearts. Invite participants to promise that they will try their hardest to be fair and just and peaceful in the way they treat others and invite participants to speak aloud if they choose, naming one of the ways they will work to keep that promise. End your meditation or prayer by saying, "Help us to/may we remember that we are not alone when we make a mistake and act unfairly or with violence. We can admit when we are wrong and try again, and our family, friends, this congregation, and God/Spirit of Life/Spirit of Justice will be with us when we do that. End the meditation or prayer as you normally would in your congregation.
Music
Choose some music about peace. Sing Hymn 101, "I've Got Peace Like a River," Hymn 159, "This is My Song," Hymn 162, "Gonna Lay Down My Sword and Shield," Hymn 167, "Nothing But Peace is Enough," Hymn 168, "One More Step," or another familiar peace hymn or song.
Closing words
Use words familiar to your congregation.
WISDOM FROM THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES: WORKSHOP 4:
LEADER RESOURCE 4: STATEMENT OF CONSCIENCE ON CREATING PEACE
This statement was passed on June 25, 2010 by the delegates of the 2010 General Assembly in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
We believe all people share a moral responsibility to create peace. Mindful of both our rich heritage and our past failures to prevent war, and enriched by our present diversity of experience and perspective, we commit ourselves to a radically inclusive and transformative approach to peace.
1. Our commitment to creating peace calls us to the work of peacebuilding, peacemaking, and peacekeeping.
Peacebuilding is the creation and support of institutions and structures that address the roots of conflict, including economic exploitation, political marginalization, the violation of human rights, and a lack of accountability to law.
Peacemaking is the negotiation of equitable and sustainable peace agreements, mediation between hostile parties, and post-conflict rebuilding and reconciliation.
Peacekeeping is early intervention to prevent war, stop genocide, and monitor ceasefires. Peacekeeping creates the space for diplomatic efforts, humanitarian aid, and nonviolent conflict prevention through the protection of civilians and the disarmament and separation of those involved in violent conflict.
2. We advocate a culture of peace through a transformation of public policies, religious consciousness, and individual lifestyles. At the heart of this transformation is the readiness to honor the truths of multiple voices from a theology of covenant grounded in love.
3. We all agree that our initial response to conflict should be the use of nonviolent methods. Yet, we bear witness to the right of individuals and nations to defend themselves, and acknowledge our responsibility to be in solidarity with others in countering aggression. Many of us believe force is sometimes necessary as a last resort, while others of us believe in the consistent practice of nonviolence.
4. We repudiate aggressive and preventive wars, the disproportionate use of force, covert wars, and targeting that includes a high risk to civilians. We support international efforts to curtail the vast world trade in armaments and call for nuclear disarmament and abolition of other weapons of mass destruction. We repudiate unilateral interventions and extended military occupations as dangerous new forms of imperialism. In an interdependent world, true peace requires the cooperation of all nations and peoples.
5. For Unitarian Universalists, the exercise of individual conscience is holy work. Conscientious discernment leads us to engage in the creation of peace in different ways. We affirm a range of individual choices, including military service and conscientious objection (whether to all wars or particular wars), as fully compatible with Unitarian Universalism. For those among us who make a formal commitment to military service, we will honor their commitment, welcome them home, and offer pastoral support. For those among us who make a formal commitment as conscientious objectors, we will offer documented certification, honor their commitment, and offer pastoral support.
6. Our faith calls us to create peace, yet we confess that we have not done all we could to prevent the spread of armed conflict throughout the world. At times we have lacked the courage to speak and act against violence and injustice; at times we have lacked the creativity to speak and act in constructive ways; at times we have condemned the violence of others without acknowledging our own complicity in violence. We affirm a responsibility to speak truth to power, especially when unjust power is exercised by our own nation. Too often we have allowed our disagreements to distract us from all that we can do together. This Statement of Conscience challenges individual Unitarian Universalists, as well as our congregations and Association, to engage with more depth, persistence, and creativity in the complex task of creating peace.
II. Historical and Theological Context
Our Universalist faith in the oneness of the whole human family teaches us that peace is necessary; our Unitarian faith in the sacred potential of each person teaches us that peace is possible.
A. Historical Practices
For two hundred years, Unitarians and Universalists have worked to build peace by removing the underlying causes of war. As early as 1790, Universalists gathered in Philadelphia declared, "Although a defensive war may be considered lawful, yet we believe there is a time coming, when the light and universal love of the gospel shall put an end to all wars." The Massachusetts Peace Society, founded by Unitarians Noah Worcester and William Ellery Channing during the War of 1812, helped launch the first peace movement to include both those repudiating all violence and those supporting defensive wars, to welcome members of all religious persuasions, and to affirm that nonviolence is humanly possible as well as divinely commanded. Since that time, Unitarian and Universalist peace efforts have continued to be informed by those principles. Though we have always held diverse views on the justification of defensive and humanitarian wars, at our best we have worked together to end the violence of slavery, to promote international law, to liberate Jews and others from Nazi tyranny, and to build the United Nations and other institutions of international cooperation. This Statement of Conscience builds on this tradition by challenging individual Unitarian Universalists, as well as our congregations and Association, to engage in a variety of nonviolent and peace building practices.
B. Theological Principles
This Statement of Conscience is grounded in the following Unitarian Universalist theological principles:
The fundamental unity and interdependence of all existence. The interdependence we have long affirmed has become the daily reality of our globalized world. Our interdependence makes it both possible and necessary that we see the peoples of the world as one community in which the security of each nation is entwined with the security of all others.
The transforming power of love. We affirm the reality of love as a dynamic power within and among us. This power moves us to create relationships of compassion, respect, mutuality, and forgiveness; to love our neighbor; and to recognize everyone as our neighbor. We stand on the side of love when we work for peace.
The inherent worth and dignity of all persons. All human beings have the right to a meaningful and fulfilling life, including physical safety and economic and social well being. All have the responsibility to work on behalf of the dignity of others.
Human freedom. Most human beings are free moral agents with the capacity to make choices and are accountable for these choices. Human freedom may be used creatively or destructively. These possibilities are expressed not only in our individual choices and actions, but also in the institutions and social structures we create. Peace is the product of human choices that empower human agency and extend the possibilities for human freedom.
Rejection of moral dualism. We reject as false the sharp separation of good and evil, refusing to assign individuals and nations into one category or the other. Moral dualism can blind us to our own and our nation's capacity for evil and to the inherent worth and dignity of those whom our nation labels as enemies. In the midst of ambiguity we can build peace by cultivating the goodness in ourselves and others.
Cooperative power. Power is created and expressed in complex networks of human relationships. Power can be used to create or destroy, to liberate or oppress. Preventing war and creating nonviolent alternatives require the use of cooperative power—power with, not power over. Cooperative power is grounded in a commitment to mutual persuasion rather than coercion.
Justice and peace. Justice concerns the fair ordering of human relationships, including social and political relationships. War signals the breakdown of fairly ordered human relations. Peace is an attribute of relationship; it is a process, not a stagnant state. Peace emerges as our social and political institutions become more cooperative and more just. Lasting peace rests on just relationships.
Humility and open-mindedness. We affirm an open-mindedness that makes us suspicious of all claims of finality, including our own. Humility allows us to take strong stands while remaining open to the possibility that we are wrong or that future circumstances may call for a different position.
III. Calls to Action
Creating peace calls for action at all levels of human interaction. To be effective, our actions must be incorporated into existing structures and institutions, and new systems must be created. We support the Unitarian Universalist Peace Ministry Network in its work of identifying resources, disseminating information, and evaluating methods to create a culture of peace on all levels.
Creating Peace in Our World
We covenant to advocate vigorously for policies and participate in practices that move our nation toward collaborative leadership in building a peaceful, just, and sustainable world, including:
Creating Peace in Our Society
We covenant to act in the wider community in reducing the causes of institutional and structural violence by:
Creating Peace in Our Congregations
We covenant to create peace through worship, religious education, and social action by:
Creating Peace in Our Relationships
As individuals we covenant to:
Creating Peace within Ourselves
We recognize that peace begins with each person and covenant to:
In reverence for all life, we covenant to practice peace at all levels of human interaction.
FIND OUT MORE
To learn more about the modern municipality of Jericho, visit their website (at www.jericho-city.org/english.php).
To explore some of the resources available to create learning experiences about peacemaking for people of all ages, review Peacemaking in Congregations: A Guide to Learning Opportunities for All Ages (at www.uua.org/documents/washingtonoffice/peacemaking_curriculum.pdf), written by the Peacemaking Curriculum Working Group of the UUA Commission on Social Witness.