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To: George W. Bush; Richard "Dick" Cheney
George W. Bush, Richard "Dick" Cheney (respondents)
Rev. Mark Craig - Sr. Pastor of Highland Park UMC
Rev. Michael L. Nichols - D.S. of the Dallas South District
Bishop William B. Oden - Bishop of North Texas Annual Conference United
Methodist Council of Bishops
A Letter of Complaint Against George W. Bush and Dick Cheney
We, the undersigned, do hold that George W. Bush, a member of Park Hill
United Methodist Church (UMC) in Dallas, Texas, and Dick Cheney (local
membership unknown) are undeniably guilty of at least four chargeable
offenses for lay members as listed in 2702.3 of the 2000 Book of Discipline of
The United Methodist Church. These offenses are: crime, immorality,
disobedience to the Order and Discipline of The UMC, and dissemination of
doctrine contrary to the established standards of doctrine of The UMC. For
these offenses, we the undersigned call for an immediate and public act of
repentance by the respondents. If the respondents do not reply with sincere
and public repentance for their crimes, we demand that their membership in
the United Methodist Church be revoked until such time that they sincerely
and publicly repent.
Chargeable Offenses
Crime
George W. Bush, in his role as President of the United States of America and
Commander in Chief, and Dick Cheney in his role as Vice-President, led the
United States into an illegal war against the sovereign nation of Iraq. In
article 23 of our Doctrinal Standards and General Rules (2000 Discipline, p.65)
the U.S. government is described as "a sovereign and independent nation,
and ought not to be subject to any foreign jurisdiction." We hold that Iraq is
also a "sovereign and independent nation" and is granted the same rights as
the United States, no matter what anyone's opinion is of its former head of
state. Attacking a sovereign nation except in cases of legitimate self-defense
is a violation of international law. This war, and subsequent occupation,
dishonored the sovereignty of the people of Iraq as world citizens and as
fellow children of God, in violation of Article 23. In Article 15, on page 71 of the
Discipline, we claim to believe that "God is owner of all things and that
individual holding of property is lawful and is a sacred trust under God. Private
property is to be used for the manifestation of Christian love and liberty, and
to support the Church's mission in the world" With no credible army to defend
themselves and no clear evidence that they possessed weapons of mass
destruction, Iraq posed NO threat to our immediate national security. Our
destruction of their property, murder of thousands, torture of many, and
usurpation of their oil fields are unnecessary and deplorable violations of
article 15 and our sacred trust under God to honor liberty, freedom, the
sacred worth of human life and our mission in the world.
While all U.S. citizens bear a degree of responsibility for our invasion of Iraq, it
was George W. Bush and Dick Cheney who initiated, promoted, and led this
illegal war. It is they who bear the fullest responsibility for this crime.
Immorality
As important as identifying the crime of the war itself is, we, the undersigned,
believe it is essential to recognize that Bush and Cheney lied to the American
people in order to push them into the unnecessary war with Iraq. They
actively and intentionally deceived the American public by stressing a
non-existent connection between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein, by
asserting Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction, and by claiming Iraq
was building a nuclear weapons program.There was no connection between
Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein. There were no weapons
of mass destruction in Iraq, except those used by the United States. There
was no existent nuclear weapons program in Iraq. The purported intelligence
that the Bush administration used to support their claims of immanent threat
had already been effectively debunked by the U.S. intelligence community,
and both Bush and Cheney knew it. Instead of truthfully leading the American
public, Bush and Cheney withheld, manipulated, and fabricated information
about Iraq against the advice of many in the intelligence community in order
to manufacture the lies that they and their administration used to convince
many Americans that war was necessary. If any of these claims were true, in
all likelihood, the repeated inspections by the United Nations and the United
States would have found some credible evidence to support them, but no
such proof has been found.
Disobedience to the Order and Discipline of The UMC, Dissemination of
Doctrine Contrary to the Established Standards of Doctrine of The UMC.
Article 16 in 103, p.71, of the 2000 Discipline states,
We believe civil government derives its just powers from the sovereign God.
As Christians we…believe such governments should be based on, and be
responsible for, the recognition of human rights under God. We believe war
and bloodshed are contrary to the gospel and spirit of Christ. We believe it is
the duty of Christian citizens to give moral strength and purpose to their
respective governments through sober, righteous and godly living.
The illegal war against and occupation of Iraq are clear violations of
international standards of human rights. The advocation and instigation of
such a war by a United Methodist president and vice president, especially with
no serious attempts at peaceful diplomacy, are without question "contrary to
the gospel and spirit of Christ", and consequently chargeable offenses under
our Discipline.
For their malicious deception of the American people, warmongering, rejection
of peaceful diplomacy and numerous violations of international law, George W.
Bush and Dick Cheney are guilty of crimes, immorality, disobedience to the
Order and Discipline of the UMC and dissemination of doctrine contrary to the
established standards of doctrine of the UMC.
In addition to these chargeable offenses, the respondents have repeatedly
violated numerous United Methodist Social Principles. While we understand
that the Social Principles are not church law, we note that at our last General
Conference, many violations of the Social Principles were named under the
chargeable offense of Immorality. Consistent with that precedent, we hold
that the respondents' various and abundant violations of at least the
following Social Principles should be included in a charge of immorality.
Violations of Our Social Principles
(Listed by paragraph number from the 2000 Discipline)
160 I. The Natural World
Therefore, let us recognize the responsibility of the church and its members to
place a high priority on changes in economic, political, social, and technological
lifestyles to support a more ecologically equitable and sustainable world
leading to a higher quality of life for all of God's creation."
From pushing for drilling in ANWAR to deregulating polluting industries and
cutting funding for toxic waste cleanup, the Bush administration has
consistently been an anti-environment administration. These policies show
their level of care for God's creation.
162 III. The Social Community
I) Population. People have the duty to consider the impact on the total world
community of their decisions regarding childbearing and should have access to
information and appropriate means to limit their fertility, including voluntary
sterilization.
George W. Bush has vetoed Federal funding directed toward family planning
in third world countries, saying that the funding is used to support the killing
of infants in China. His claim is false.
164 V. The Political Community
A.) Basic Freedoms and Human Rights-We hold governments responsible for
the guarantee of the rights to adequate food, clothing, shelter, education,
and health care.
Bush and the Republican-controlled Congress have cut funding for social
programs that guarantee these rights and diverted it toward war and huge
tax cuts for corporations and the super-wealthy.
We also strongly reject domestic surveillance and intimidation of political
opponents by governments in power and all other misuse of elective or
appointive offices. The use of detention and imprisonment for harassment and
elimination of political opponents or other dissidents violates fundamental
human rights. Furthermore the mistreatment or torture of persons by
governments for any purpose violates Christian teaching and must be
condemned and/or opposed by Christians and churches wherever and
whenever it occurs. For the same reason, we oppose capital punishment and
urge its elimination from all criminal codes.
The Bush administration, through the Patriot Act, has violated the
constitutional freedoms of persons residing in the U.S., making it easier for
the government to spy on and intimidate any opponents of this administration
and its policies. Furthermore, the Bush administration has encouraged a
climate in which any rightful opponents to their illegal and heinous actions are
labeled as "unpatriotic" or "anti-American". This climate has also lead to the
harassment and torture of prisoners of war, sometimes consisting of physical
and sexual abuse.
Finally, the Bush administration is a strong supporter of capital punishment.
C) Freedom of Information-Citizens of all countries should have access to all
essential information regarding their government and its policies. Illegal and
unconscionable activities directed against persons or groups by their own
governments must not be justified or kept secret, even under the guise of
national security.
As mentioned previously, Bush and his administration withheld, manipulated,
and fabricated information in order to push the American people into an illegal
war. This is clearly an unconscionable activity directed against us by our own
government officials.
D) Education-We believe responsibility for education for the young rests with
the family, the church , and the government. In our society , this function can
best be fulfilled through public policies that ensure access for all persons to
free public elementary and secondary schools and to post-secondary schools
of their choice. Persons in our society should not be precluded by financial
barriers.
Bush and Cheney, when campaigning for office, claimed that they would
support education, but while they have been in office, funding for education
has declined as a direct result of their irresponsible tax cuts for the
super-wealthy, making it much more difficult for poorer people to receive
quality educations. They also support the use of education vouchers, which
The United Methodist Church is against.
F) Criminal and Restorative Justice. To protect all persons from encroachment
upon their personal and property rights, governments have established
mechanisms of law enforcement and courts. We reject all misuse of these
mechanisms including their use for the purpose of revenge of for persecuting
or intimidating those whose race, appearance, lifestyle, economic conditions,
or beliefs differ from those in authority.
As Governor of the state with the most prisoner executions of any in the
nation, George W. Bush was proud of his role in Texas' judicial system and
confident that it was unflawed. His reckless disregard for human life and his
reliance on punitive measures has carried over into his role as President.
Since 9/11, Bush's idea of justice in all cases has been "hunt them down and
make them pay", even toward those who have not been proven guilty, such
as the thousands of Iraqi and Afghani civilians killed by our military or the
hundreds of prisoners of war who have been harassed, abused, or held
without charges or access to counsel, clearly violating international law.
G) Military Service-We deplore war and urge the peaceful settlement of all
disputes among nations. We also respect those who support the use of force,
but only in extreme situations and only when the need is clear beyond
reasonable doubt, and though appropriate international organizations.
This was a unilateral war in which the Bush administration ignored both the
United Nations and a vast segment of the American people who opposed the
war.
165 VI. The World Community
C) War and Peace-We believe war is incompatible with the teachings and
example of Christ. We therefore reject war as a usual instrument of national
foreign policy and insist that the first moral duty of all nations is to resolve by
peaceful means every dispute that arises between or among them; that
human values must outweigh military claims as governments determine their
priorities; that the militarization of society must be challenged and stopped;
that the manufacture, sale, and deployment of armaments must be reduced
and controlled; and that the production, possession, or use of nuclear
weapons be condemned. Consequently, we endorse general and complete
disarmament under strict and effective international control.
Bush and Cheney have used war as a usual instrument of foreign policy. They
are for the militarization of society. They advocate the production of yet more
nuclear weapons, so-called "usable nukes" or "bunker busters". The only
disarming they want to occur is the disarmament of nations that they have
labeled as "evil". Ironically, this disarmament had already occurred in Iraq
through "strict and effective international control", but Bush and Cheney still
insisted that unilateral war was absolutely necessary.
D) Justice and Law. Believing that international justice requires the
participation of all peoples, we endorse the United Nations and its related
bodies and the International Court of Justice as the best instruments now in
existence to achieve a world of justice and law.
Again, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney ignored the U.N. and violated
international law in their push to go to war with Iraq.
In Conclusion
We, the undersigned, are also very much disturbed by President Bush's many
references to the significance of Christian faith in the decisions that he has
made as President of the United States. George W. Bush has called Jesus his
"favorite philosopher", said that Jesus changed his life, and that his decisions
are often guided by prayer. In fact, we feel that most of his actions as
president have directly contradicted the philosophy of Jesus. Jesus said to
feed, clothe, and shelter the "least of these", not to starve, strip, and bomb
them.
We are also concerned that the respondents seem completely ignorant of
their denomination's stances on many weighty moral issues and have
consistently ignored the advice and pleadings of their own Council of Bishops.
We, the undersigned, recognize that the Methodist tradition is founded on
both support and accountability. Our leaders and our members have tried to
support the respondents with prayers and petitions, but we fear it has been
to no avail. At this point, we cannot be expected to "encourage and enjoin
obedience to the powers that be" (2000 Discipline, p.66) when they are
reckless and irresponsible with power given them by our democratic process.
Now is the time to hold them accountable, or to be judged ourselves by God
for not doing so.
//signed//
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