2001-3
Peace That Passes All Understanding:
A Position Paper Regarding the War on Terrorism
The members of the Lutheran Student Movement-USA (LSM-USA), as part of our call to “inform and empower a faithful witness to the Good News of Jesus Christ”[i], take the following position on the current “War on Terrorism” and U.S. action in Afghanistan:
We strongly condemn the terrorist actions taken against the United States on September 11th, 2001. We mourn the great loss of life that occurred, and it is our belief that the individuals involved in such evil acts should be brought to justice.
How justice is to be done is an area of great contention. There are those who believe that any action is justifiable in order to apprehend those responsible. Others believe that nonviolence is the only appropriate response. It is our position that the truth lies between these two extremes.
We reaffirm the position of LSM-USA that, as Christians, we are called to be peacemakers[ii]. Our prayers are with those who have lost loved ones as a result of this tragedy. Those remembered in our prayers include the victims here in the United States, their families and friends, firefighters and police officers, those serving in the armed forces, those who have lost their lives in Afghanistan, and the world as a whole as the violence continues. Christ himself commands us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us[iii]. Recognizing this, we pray for those individuals who were involved in the terrorist actions on September 11th, and we pray for those who continue to plot evil in this world.
War and violence are the result of sin in a broken world[iv]. Recognizing the effects of sin on the world allows us to see there is no clear decision between an absolute good versus an absolute evil. Knowing this, we understand the use of military force in bringing those responsible to justice. At the same time we realize that such violent actions taken by our nation feed into a cycle of violence in our world. We are deeply concerned with the amount of suffering and the loss of innocent life that will come as a result of our retaliatory actions.
While speaking against those who have chosen violence as their companion we acknowledge that part of ourselves which is also violent. We pray for God to heal those broken parts of our enemies just as we pray for him to heal the brokenness inside our own souls. Recent events remind us of the need to show Christian love and mercy to one another in every sphere of our life: home, church, workplace, school, and community. In our effort to bring criminals to justice we must not forget to work for justice in all that we do.
Often the language used to describe our actions is self-deceptive. We oppose such language when it is used to hide from ourselves the reality of the situation. Such language is varied, but we identify two particular phrases prone to misapplication:
1. “God bless America.” This phrase is used correctly when it conjures an image of God helping people cope with the great losses they have incurred, when it pulls members of the nation together to help and serve one another, and when it asks for the healing of our brokenness that only God can offer. This phrase is used incorrectly when it implies that God should bless our nation at the expense of others, that the United States should enjoy special privilege in the sight of God, or that the lives of Americans are inherently more valuable than the lives of any other people in the world.
2. “Collateral damage.” This phrase refers to civilians and non-combatants whose lives are lost as an indirect result of military action. This phrase has no appropriate use. It is a euphemism used to conceal the realities of our actions. Beyond that, it dehumanizes those who are killed as a result of our actions while devaluing the pain and suffering endured by their loved ones.
It is our belief that the actions of a radical fringe group should never be taken to represent the group as a whole. History is filled with examples where many innocent people have been wrongly judged and persecuted because of prejudice and fear. While the terrorists who work evil may identify themselves as Muslim, it is known that their reprehensible actions are in direct contradiction to the teachings of Islam. In the name of God we embrace those in the Muslim community worldwide and join with them to stand against those who attack the innocent.
As a result of the statements above and following the tradition of LSM-USA[v] we encourage all to take the following actions:
1. Prayer
Our Lord Jesus Christ is the true source of strength. Through prayer we can begin to address the sin and brokenness of our world and ourselves. We pray for the injuries suffered by all peoples in all nations as a result of acts of terrorism and violence.
2. Education
Our education must start with scripture so that we have a strong biblical foundation. Through this biblical knowledge we will be able to understand more of God’s call for us to be peacemakers. We seek greater education about ourselves so that we might greater understand our own actions and motivations. Our education must also include knowledge about others. By learning about those who are different, and even those who hate us, we can begin to vanquish the ignorance and fear that are the root causes of war.
3. Action
God does not call us to be passive or complacent but to action in our world[vi]. We are called to active lives working for peace and justice. We must proclaim the Gospel to all with our words and with our actions. We are all enabled with certain gifts and therefore we affirm the variety of ways in which one can be actively working for peace, including, but not limited to, prayer vigils, Bible studies, letter writing, educational activities, conscientious objection, or non-violent civil disobedience whenever possible working in concert with other student organizations.
We believe God’s vision of shalom calls us to work for change in U.S. foreign policy, in order to reduce the desperation caused by poverty and political injustice. Too often our decisions are based on dollars and not on justice.
Upon endorsement, a copy of this position paper will be sent to the following individuals and organizations: President of the United States, U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Senate, Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, President of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, Lutheran World Federation, National Council of Churches, World Council of Churches, Muslim Student Association, Council for Ecumenical Student Christian Ministries, and Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs.
Author
Anthony Bateza
Secretary for International and Multicultural Concerns
LSM-USA
[i] LSM-USA Constitution, Preamble
[ii] LSM-USA Resolution 1990-5, Diplomacy not war in the Persian Gulf
[iii] Mt. 5:9, 43-45
[iv] A Social Statement for Peace in God’s World, approved by the ELCA Churchwide assembly on August 20, 1995
[v] LSM-USA Position paper 1982-12, Committing ourselves to peace: a resolution of nuclear disarmament
[vi] For more on this see Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Ethics, pages 204-210.