By Jesse J. DeConto
Portsmouth HeraldNovember 24, 2002
Local peace activists believe there's so much opposition to a possible war on Iraq, they were reluctant to publicize an informal gathering planned for Monday night for fear they'd overflow the South Church, Unitarian-Universalist. The Seacoast Alliance for Democracy and the Seacoast Peace Response are jointly holding a discussion aimed at answering, "The threat of war - what does it all mean?" from 7 to 9 p.m. at 292 State St.
Stanley Longstaff, an Alliance member from Eliot, Maine, said the media and the government are both playing roles in muting the widespread voices against military violence in Iraq. "The media coverage, as far as I'm concerned, is extremely lax," he said.
Those responsible for security at political events often allow dissenting speech only in particular areas isolated from the main event, Longstaff said. "That's just corralling the First Amendment," he said.
Portsmouth resident Nancy Brown said the gathering will enable people to talk about the emotions swirling inside them. "War is upon us, its meaning none too clear, but its potential for great darkness already haunts us," she wrote in a leaflet announcing the event. "This war is not inevitable." Brown said Monday's meeting will be informal, but several religious organizations in New Hampshire and Maine have adopted formal resolutions against war with Iraq.
Last month, the New Hampshire Council of Churches, comprising 10 different denominations across the state, agreed that a pre-emptive unilateral use of force against Iraq was not justifiable at that time. Since then, the United Nations Security Council has demanded that Saddam Hussein allow U.N. weapons inspectors back into his country, but NHCC executive director David Lamarre-Vincent believes the U.S. government is still coiled to strike if Iraq strays only slightly from the U.N. agreement. "You can continue to see a very aggressive posture on the part of the Bush administration," Lamarre-Vincent said.
The council includes New Hampshire's Evangelical Lutherans, Quakers, Presbyterians, American Baptists, Unitarian Universalists, Roman Catholics, Episcopalians, Greek Orthodox, United Methodists and Congregationalists.
The church's "Just War Theory" dates back to fourth-century theologian St. Augustine and allows for war as a means for earthly governments to hold back the forces of evil. Few religious leaders across America, however, believe the United States can currently justify war on Iraq.
"Conditions have not been met for overriding the strong presumption against use of military force," the New Hampshire Council of Churches statement reads. "We urge the New Hampshire congressional delegation not to support any resolution authorizing the president to launch a unilateral first strike against Iraq.
"Use of massive military force to remove the current government of Iraq could have incalculable consequences for the Iraqi civilian population that has suffered so much from war, oppression and debilitating embargo," it says. "The civilian population of Israel is potentially particularly at risk from retaliation by Iraq. We are also concerned for the lives of the military that would be involved in such an event."
The Maine Council of Churches, made up of eight different Christian denominations, recently issued a similar statement. "Our nations have not exhausted all the alternatives to war," it reads. "Should military action be necessary as a last resort, we urge that this action be under the auspices of the United Nations, not the United States or a coalition that it assembles."
In their statement, the Maine churches quoted Martin Luther King Jr.: "Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."
In New Hampshire, a small group of Congregational churches designated as "Just Peace Churches" have been organizing educational teach-ins to contrast a Gospel of love with the violence of war. Four New Hampshire Congregational churches are Just Peace Churches, including Pilgrim Church serving Brentwood and Kingston.
While the Maine and New Hampshire councils of churches both emphasized the Bush administration has not met the burden of the Just War Theory, Pilgrim Church, though not exactly pacifist, has committed to promoting peace rather than struggling to justify war.
"They would put that much energy into figuring out what a Just Peace is," said Pilgrim's pastor, the Rev. Kim McKerley, explaining was a Just Peace Church is.
"War should be the last resort," she said.
McKerley pointed out how unusual it was for diverse denominations to agree so thoroughly on avoiding war with Iraq.
"That should say something," she said.
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