US Religious Group Condemns Iraq War

[Judi Lynn]

US Religious Group Condemns Iraq War

Arab News, PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil, 20 February 2006 —

The US Conference for the World Council of Churches condemned the US-led war in Iraq on Saturday for “raining down terror” on helpless Iraqis, and criticized Washington’s policies on the environment and poverty.

“We lament with special anguish the war in Iraq, launched in deception and violating global norms of justice and human rights,” the Conference said in an emotional letter released during the World Council of Churches Assembly in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

The statement from the US group accused the Bush administration of “raining down terror on the truly vulnerable among our global neighbors,” saying the United States “has done much in these years to endanger the human family.” It said the US government turned a deaf ear to the voice of the church in the country and in the world, using God’s name instead “in national agendas that are nothing short of idolatrous.” “We confess that we have failed to raise a prophetic voice loud enough and persistent enough to deter our leaders from this path of pre-emptive war. Lord, have mercy,” the letter said.

“The starvation, the AIDS pandemic, the treatable diseases that go untreated indict us, revealing the grim features of global economic injustice we have too often failed to acknowledge or confront,” it said.
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http://www.aljazeerah.info/News%20archives/2006%20News%20Archives/February/20%20n/US%20Religious%20Group%20Condemns%20Iraq%20War.htm

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US churches apologise over Iraq war -19/02/06

A number of US churches have apologised this weekend for their failure to prevent the Iraq war.

Representatives of the US Conference for the World Council of Churches (WCC) addressed a message to the WCC's 9th Assembly on Saturday saying that the US-led Iraq war was a "mistake", and apologized to the ecumenical community for failing to raise a prophetic voice to prevent it.

In the run up to the invasion of Iraq George W Bush refused to meet with many church leaders who opposed the war.

In the end church leaders from the US came to see British Prime Minister Tony Blair instead, who met with them for an hour.

The Very Rev. Leonid Kishkovsky, moderator of the US Conference for the WCC, made up of 34 US churches that are members of the Council, told a 9th Assembly plenary, "We lament with special anguish the war in Iraq, launched with deception and violating global norms of justice and human rights."
(snip/...)

http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/content/news_syndication/article_060219uswcc.shtml

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Sun, February 19, 2006

Churches rap U.S. over Iraq
By AP

PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil -- A coalition of American churches sharply denounced the U.S.-led war in Iraq yesterday, accusing Washington of "raining down terror" and apologizing to other countries for "the violence, degradation and poverty our nation has sown."

The statement, issued at the largest gathering of Christian churches in nearly a decade, also warned the U.S. was pushing the world toward environmental catastrophe with a "culture of consumption" and its refusal to back accords seeking to battle global warming.

"We lament with special anguish the war in Iraq, launched in deception and violating global norms of justice and human rights," said the statement from representatives of the 34 U.S. members of the World Council of Churches. "We mourn all who have died or been injured in this war. We acknowledge with shame abuses carried out in our name."

The World Council of Churches includes more than 350 mainstream Protestant, Anglican and Orthodox churches. The Roman Catholic Church is not a member.

The U.S. groups in the WCC include the Episcopal Church, the Presbyterian Church (USA), the United Methodist Church, several Orthodox churches and Baptist denominations, among others.
(snip/...)

http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/World/2006/02/19/1450951-sun.html

[CrazyOrangeCat]

1. Good. Now the Methodists . . .

. . . need to censure Dick and Dork, personally, since they are members.

[Erika]

2. W bragged about his shock and awe campaign

thrust on innocent Iraqis. It turned out to be our shame. An apology is meaningless. The majority of Americans were against attacking Iraq, but W kept up the lies and the rear strategery (his term)