미국과 이란 간의 폭력적 교류가 일주일 이상 지속된 후, 많은 종교 지도자들이 외교와 평화 구축을 촉구하는 서한에 서명했다. 미국장로교 총회 정서기인 제이 허버트 넬슨 목사를 포함한 19명의 지도자들은 최근의 사건들을 통해 미국이 취하고 있는 방향에 대해 "깊은 혼란"을 경험하고 있다고 말한다.
“폭력 행위는 상황을 악화시킬 뿐 아니라, 미국과 이란 간의 폭력, 증오, 불화를 심화할 것”이라고 썼다. “평화의 길은 쉽지 않지만, 우리는 그것이 미국과 이란 국민들을 위해 지속적 안정과 정의를 실현할 것이라고 믿는다.”
1 월 3 일, 이슬람 혁명 수비대의 이란군 소장인 카셈 솔레이마니는 바그다드 국제 공항 근처에서 그의 부대가 이동 중 미국의 드론에서 발사된 미사일에 의해 사망했다. 며칠 후 이란은 이라크에 있는 두 개의 미군 기지에 미사일을 발사하여 대응했다.
"우리는 미국이 이란에 대한 군사 행동을 계속하지 않도록 모든 노력을 다할 것을 의회에 요청한다. 그리고 실제로, 외교에 대한 강력한 지원을 포함하여 긴장 완화를 위한 모든 일을 할 수 있다"라고 편지는 말한다. "군사 행동은이 지역을 더욱 불안정하게 하고 귀중한 인명 손실을 초래할 것이다."
신앙 지도자들은 전쟁이 가장 취약한 사람들에게 영향을 미치며, 돌이킬 수 없는 피해를 입히고, 평화를 위한 전망을 흐리게 할 것이라고 말한다.
"미국이 새로운 전쟁에 참가하는 것을 승인하는 것은 대통령이 아니라 의회이며, 의회는 이란에 대한 향후 군사활동에 미국이 자금을 지원하지 못하도록 막을 권한이 있다"고 이들은 밝힌다. "우리는 의회가 전쟁 권한을 주장하는 것을 피하고, 미국을 전쟁의 벼랑에서 멀어지게 할 것을 촉구한다."
넬슨과 더불어 미국장로교 공공 증인실 책임자인 지미 호킨스 목사, 그리고 제 223차 총회(2018)의 공동 총회장인 신디 콜맨도 미국이 유엔 규정을 위반한 것에 대해 책임을 지도록 유엔 인권 고등 판무관에게 요구하는 서한에 서명했다. 이란과의 긴장을 고조시키는 헌장
이 편지는 극빈자 캠페인에서 나온 것이며, 캠페인의 공동 의장인 윌리엄 J. 바버 II 목사, 리즈 테오하리스 목사를 포함한 다종교 지도자들이 서명했다. 이 서한은 미셸 바 쉐레 제리아와의 회담을 요구한다. 인권 고등 판무관
"우리는 중동에서 대통령의 불미스러운 처사에 의해 발생한 죽음으로 인해 크게 혼란에 빠졌다"고 편지는 말한다. "의회의 승인을 우회하고, 국제법을 위반하고, 유죄 판결을 받은 전쟁 범죄자를 사면하고, 가혹한 제재를 시행하고, 기존 평화 협정을 포기하려는 그의 의지는 치명적이고 불안정한 결과를 지속할 수 있는 위험한 선례를 설정한다."
이 단체는 상황에 대한 유엔의 즉각적인 개입을 요구하며, 미국은 인권, 국제법, 유엔 위반에 반응해야 한다고 주장한다. 헌장과 전쟁법
“중동 및 전 세계 사람들의 삶이 균형의 위협에 처해 있다."라고 서신은 말한다. “우리를 대표하는 저소득층—, 즉 미국 인구의— 43%인 1억 4천만 명의 저소득층과 가난한 이들의 삶 또한 세계가 파괴적인 전쟁의 벼랑으로 밀려가면서 균형의 위협을 받고 있다.”
아래의 두 서신을 읽으십시오.
Faith Leaders Letter to Congress
January 9, 2020
Dear Members of Congress:
We write to you as faith leaders deeply grieved by the current rise in violence and tension between the U.S. and Iran. The events of recent weeks, including the assassination of Major General Qasem Soleimani, and the Iranian missile strike on January 7 against US and Iraqi bases in Iraq, have left us deeply disturbed. Our faith teaches us that in times of conflict, the best way forward is through diplomacy and peacemaking. Actions of violence will only exacerbate the situation, leading to increased violence, hatred, and discord between the U.S and Iran. The way of peace is not easy, yet we believe it will result in lasting security and justice for the people of Iran and the United States.
We ask Congress to do everything in its power to ensure the U.S. does not continue its escalation of U.S. military action toward Iran; and indeed to do all that is possible to deescalate the tensions, including robust support for diplomacy. Military action will likely further destabilize the region and result in the loss of precious human life. War will impact the most vulnerable, causing irreparable harm and dimming prospects for peace between our two nations. We pray for the people of Iraq who now have been caught in the crossfire between Iran and the United States.
It is Congress, not the President, that must approve the U.S. entering into a new war and Congress has the authority to stop the U.S. from funding future military activities against Iran. We urge you to not delay in asserting your war powers authority and move the U.S. away from the precipice of war. We further encourage you to pass legislation that will bring us back to the negotiating table with Iran.
During this challenging time we are grateful for your service to this country. Please know we are lifting you up in our prayers.
Sincerely,
Joyce Ajlouny
General Secretary
American Friends Service Committee
Rev. Eddy Alemán,
General Secretary
Reformed Church in America.
Rev. Traci D. Blackmon
Associate General Minister Justice & Local Church Ministries
The United Church of Christ
J Ron Byler
Executive Director
Mennonite Central Committee U.S.
Rev. Dr. Julia Brown Karimu
President, Division of Overseas Ministries, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Co-Executive, Global Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and United Church of Christ
Rev. Dr. Mae Elise Cannon
Executive Director
Churches for Middle East Peace
Rev. Dr. John Dorhauer
General Minister and President United Church of Christ
Bishop Sally Dyck
President
General Board of Church and Society The United Methodist Church
Rev. Dr. Susan Frederick-Gray
President
Unitarian Universalist Association
Susan Gunn
Director
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
Rev. Glen Guyton
Executive Director Mennonite Church USA
Dr. Eli S. McCarthy
Director of Justice and Peace Conference of Major Superiors of Men
Rev. Teresa Hord Owens
General Minister and President
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada
Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson
Stated Clerk of the General Assembly
Presbyterian Church (USA)
Diane Randall
Executive Secretary
Friends Committee on National Legislation
Very Rev. Jack Clark Robinson, ofm,
Chairperson
Franciscan Friars (ofm) of the U.S.-6 Provinces
Rev. Dr. Karen Georgia Thompson
Associate General Minister, Wider Church Ministries and Operations, United Church of Christ
Co-Executive, Global Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and United Church of Christ
Nikki Toyama Szeto
Executive Director
Evangelicals for Social Action
Jim Winkler
President and General Secretary
National Council of Churches
Letter to United Nations High Commissioner
Dear Movement Family,
Today we joined faith leaders, including denominational and national leadership, with moral advocates across the country in requesting that the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights hold our government accountable for violating the UN Charter and escalating us toward war with Iran. This afternoon we formally requested a meeting with High Commissioner Bachelet. As the request began:
"We write gravely disturbed, indeed outraged, by the death that is occurring because of our President's rogue actions in the Middle East. His willingness to bypass congressional approval, violate international law, pardon convicted war criminals, implement harsher sanctions and abandon existing peace deals, sets a dangerous precedent that can have continued lethal and destabilizing results.
The US President's order to carry out a lethal drone strike violated the UN Charter's prohibition on the use of force. The assassination of General Qassim Suleimani represented an act of war against a country with whom the United States was not at war. Trump’s claim of imminent danger from Suleimani is unfounded and must be investigated.
The threat to add new sanctions to Iran, and to involve the NATO military alliance, all indicate that the threat of war remains very real. Furthermore, we know that the majority of impact from these sanctions will be on the poor."
To: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
From: [Your Name]
High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
c/o Craig Mokhiber, Director, OHCHR New York
Dear Commissioner Bachelet,
We write gravely disturbed, indeed outraged, by the death that is occurring because of our President’s rogue actions in the Middle East. His willingness to bypass congressional approval, violate international law, pardon convicted war criminals, implement harsher sanctions and abandon existing peace deals, sets a dangerous precedent that can have continued lethal and destabilizing results.
The U.S. President's order to carry out a lethal drone strike violated the UN Charter's prohibition on the use of force. The assassination of General Qassim Suleimani represented an act of war against a country with whom the United States was not at war. Trump’s claim of imminent danger from Suleimani is unfounded and must be investigated.
The threat to add new sanctions to Iran, and to involve the NATO military alliance, all indicate that the threat of war remains very real. Furthermore, we know that the majority of impact from these sanctions will be on the poor.
We will not be silent as our president publicly announces willingness to commit a minimum of 52 violations of international law and war crimes — attacking civilian and cultural centers, including churches, museums, mosques and libraries in Iran. Further, Trump has said he would do it once again without authorization from Congress. Indeed, these are disturbing, world-altering actions which, if allowed, will bring war that could escalate to world-wide proportions.
As U.S. moral advocates and faith leaders who understand our collective accountability to human rights for all around the world, we are requesting your immediate intervention in the present moral crisis. The United States, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, threatens international peace and security. The United Nations, beginning with its human rights system, must respond to its violations of human rights, its violations of international law and the UN Charter, and its violations of the laws of war.
The lives of people in the Middle East and around the globe hang in the balance. The lives of those we represent — among the 140 million poor and low wealth in the United States, 43% of the U.S. population — also hang in the balance as the world teeters on the precipice of a devastating war.
Dr. Martin Luther King taught us that “war is the enemy of the poor.” War is a crime against the poor civilians of Iran, Iraq, and the whole Middle East region, who pay for U.S. wars with the destruction of their lives, their health, their homes and their country’s environment. It’s a crime against the poor of the U.S. as well who pay with their tax dollars going to the Pentagon instead of to jobs, health care and a green new deal. And who pay with their lives and health through disproportionate service in the military.
As a nation, we cannot seek goodness and peace while at the same time pursuing the evils of war. We cannot uproot systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation, and the false moral narrative while embracing militarism and the war economy.
We believe that the international community, through the United Nations, alongside mobilized social movements of poor and marginalized and committed people, must respond to these violations of human rights, the violations of international law, the threats of more war crimes to come.
It is with profound humility and careful moral discernment that we are urging you to help hold our government accountable for making war on the Middle East and on its own people.
Respectfully submitted,
Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II
President, Repairers of the Breach
Co-Chair Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival
Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis
Executive Director, Kairos Center
Co-Chair Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival
[Following in alphabetical order]
Joyce Ajlouny
General Secretary, American Friends Service Committee
Sr. Dottie Almoney
ELCA Deaconess Community
Rev. Traci D. Blackmon
Associate General Minister
Justice & Local Church Ministries
The United Church of Christ
Phyllis Bennis
Institute for Policy Studies
Bishop Yvette Flunder
The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries
Imam Khalid Griggs
Vice President
Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA)
Roshi Joan Jiko Halifax
Abbot, Upaya Zen Center
Rev. Jimmie R. Hawkins
Director of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Public Witness
Rev. Teresa Hord Owens
General Minister and President
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Reverend Dr. Alvin O’Neal Jackson
Executive Director
Mass Poor People’s Assembly and Moral March on Washington
Valarie Kaur
Sikh activist
Founder of the Revolutionary Love Project
The Rev. Cindy Kohlmann
Co-Moderator, 223rd General Assembly, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Rev. Dr. John Mendez
Pastor Emeritus of Emmanuel Baptist Church
Progressive National Baptist Convention
Rev. Mary Katherine Morn
President/CEO Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson
Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Sister Noreen Stevens
ELCA Deaconess Community
Rev. Dr. Robin Tanner
National Director for Religious Affairs, Repairers of the Breach
Minister, Beacon Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Summit, New Jersey
Rabbi Arthur Waskow, PhD
The Shalom Center
Rabbi Elyse Wechterman
Executive Director
Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association
Min. Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove
School for Conversion