National Council of Churches sends Bush petition opposing Iraq policy

NEW YORK (AP) – Leaders of the National Council of Churches and several member denominations marked July 4 with a petition stating vehement opposition to United States policy in Iraq.

The statement, sent to President Bush, charged, “It has become clear that the rationale for invasion was at best a tragic mistake, at worst a clever deception.”

The church executives denounced the national leaders who sent Americans “to fight a dishonorable war” and “the abuse of prisoners that has shamed our nation.”

The group advocated “an early fixed timetable for the withdrawal of United States troops,” something Bush ruled out in a nationally televised speech last week.

Instead, the church group favored “establishment of a credible multinational peacekeeping force” to end what it called “the humiliation of occupation,” “the violence of a civil war” and “policies that have diminished our nation’s prestige.”

The statement said the nation must restore “truth telling” and abolish “first strike” justifications for warfare. It also contended that military spending means the government cannot adequately care for poor Americans.

Alan Wisdom of the conservative Institute for Religion and Democracy responded that the statement shows the National Council is divorced “from the church members it claims to represent” and seeks Christian unity through narrow, “1960s era protest politics” on which Christians may disagree rather than pursuing matters of faith.

The Rev. Bob Edgar, National Council general secretary and a former Democratic congressman, said “the administration has listened more closely to far-right religious leaders who agree with them” than other clergy.

Besides Edgar and the National Council’s president, endorsers included heads of the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and United Church of Christ, and executives of the United Methodist Church, to which Bush belongs. Nearly 16,000 individuals in 44 states also signed the petition.

Read Another Article

Teenage girl attacked by church trio
Mind Over Mortar

Related News Articles Topic(s): USA Subscribe to Religion News Blog updates Subscribe to Religion News Blog [What is this?] Get Religion News Blog's headline by Email [What is this?] Follow Religion News Blog at Twitter Find Related Information Use our custom search engines to find additional research resources on religions and cults: ApologeticsSearch.com: Search for apologetics articles, books, videos, and other research resources across 135 Christian apologetics websites and blogs. CounterCultSearch.com: Search for information about (religious) cults, cult-like organizations, and cults experts -- as well as paranormal-, New Age, and pseudoscientific claims -- across 260+ websites, blogs and forums dedicated to cult research, spiritual abuse, ex-cult counseling & support. Find Related Religion & Spirituality Books at Amazon.com USA Possibly related... or Most Popular Religion News Articles Kent Hovind: Evangelist arrested on federal charges Beast’s real mark devalued to ’616′ Muslim Woman Gives Sex Advice on Arab TV Michael Jackson Confirms Conversion to Islam Kent Hovind, ‘Dr. Dino,’ guilty on all counts The fall and rise of Carlton Pearson Search False prophet Harold Camping sets another date for rapture: May 21, 2011 Watch the film Theo van Gogh was murdered for Kent Hovind — Dr. Dino — sentenced to 10 years in prison

Search Religion News Blog