St Luke's Church Eccleshill - Articles from "The Link"

Seeking peace but not pacifist

What did our new bishop do first as he came to Bradford? He joined with other Christian leaders, and also with a Muslim leader, and issued a statement against going to war with Iraq. He encouraged us to go on the “Stop the War“ march on 15th February, and he proposed an ”emergency” motion against the war in Diocesan Synod. I admire him for this - I think he is right.

Most Christians (including our bishop) have called for any war to be fought under the authority of the United Nations - not unilaterally by one or two countries, however powerful. We call for war to be a last resort, only used when other methods had come to nothing. We call for clearly defined aims, and we call for avoiding injury to innocent Iraqis who don’t support the regime there. I think all these calls are right.

But I do believe there are still some circumstances in which it would be right to go to war. I’m very grateful that the Second World War was fought, and I also think the Americans were right to fight the Vietnam War (even though they lost it in the end). The hard question is to decide when is the right time to begin a war because the peaceful attempts haven’t worked.

So at the Diocesan Synod, I felt the need to throw a fly into the ointment. The bishop’s motion said all the right things about us not having got to war yet - but it looked pacifist. It looked as if we were against war in all circumstances (even though the fine print did not actually say that). So I asked for some extra words to say that there were some occasions when it was right to go to war.

Others clearly felt the same. One said that many on General Synod had abstained in the final vote because of these concerns. Another said that if the UN authorised war then we should support it. Some Christians are pacifists, but some of us think there does come a point where one must use force, even though this may be a “moral defeat”. In the end they voted to keep my extra words, by a narrow margin: 26 to 22, with 6 abstaining.

We follow a leader - Jesus - who told us to turn the other cheek. But that doesn’t mean we can stand by while others do evil, for Jesus didn’t do this in the Temple. We try to make peace - we pray it won’t come to force.

John Hartley

	*St Luke's Church, Eccleshill - The Link* magazine** The Link is published monthly at 40p (Senior Citizens 35p), and we deliver free within the parish and post copies (at the reader's expense) to those who request it. Please contact us if you would like a free copy for a trial period. April 2003, Page 4.
Home Page. Index of articles. Race & Faiths: index, Bussing, Islam, Zimbabwe, Islam? Iraq (2), Iraq (3). In this issue: (April 2003) Vicar's letter, Holywell, Peace, A working faith.	Seeking peace but not pacifist What did our new bishop do first as he came to Bradford? He joined with other Christian leaders, and also with a Muslim leader, and issued a statement against going to war with Iraq. He encouraged us to go on the “Stop the War“ march on 15th February, and he proposed an ”emergency” motion against the war in Diocesan Synod. I admire him for this - I think he is right. Most Christians (including our bishop) have called for any war to be fought under the authority of the United Nations - not unilaterally by one or two countries, however powerful. We call for war to be a last resort, only used when other methods had come to nothing. We call for clearly defined aims, and we call for avoiding injury to innocent Iraqis who don’t support the regime there. I think all these calls are right. But I do believe there are still some circumstances in which it would be right to go to war. I’m very grateful that the Second World War was fought, and I also think the Americans were right to fight the Vietnam War (even though they lost it in the end). The hard question is to decide when is the right time to begin a war because the peaceful attempts haven’t worked. So at the Diocesan Synod, I felt the need to throw a fly into the ointment. The bishop’s motion said all the right things about us not having got to war yet - but it looked pacifist. It looked as if we were against war in all circumstances (even though the fine print did not actually say that). So I asked for some extra words to say that there were some occasions when it was right to go to war. Others clearly felt the same. One said that many on General Synod had abstained in the final vote because of these concerns. Another said that if the UN authorised war then we should support it. Some Christians are pacifists, but some of us think there does come a point where one must use force, even though this may be a “moral defeat”. In the end they voted to keep my extra words, by a narrow margin: 26 to 22, with 6 abstaining. We follow a leader - Jesus - who told us to turn the other cheek. But that doesn’t mean we can stand by while others do evil, for Jesus didn’t do this in the Temple. We try to make peace - we pray it won’t come to force. John Hartley
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