Let Us Not Compound the Crime!
A
message to President Bush and other world leaders.
Co-authored
by members of Christian Churches in Central and
Southern California.
We the people of the United
States of America stand by our nation and by our
guiding principles, that all men are created
equal, and that life, liberty and freedom of
belief are the right of all people. Through
numerous wars, Americans have valiantly laid down
their lives, to give birth to this nation, rid it
of slavery, and insure human rights and to defend
the freedom of friendly nations.
Now, we as a nation, and the international
community are faced with the grave choice of
pursuing and stopping the specific individuals
responsible for this crime against humanity, or
declaring war on entire nations that harbor them.
While the perpetrators of this unthinkable crime
must be tracked down and stopped, let us not shed
innocent blood in the process, lest we sacrifice
our principles and become terrorist ourselves.
The leaders of the free world must take the
long-term view and fully realize that a general
war declared on nations may kill the current
leaders of terrorism, but give rise to another
generation and wave of terror.
At this moment, after two years of bitter
drought, there are millions of refugees on the
verge of starvation, stranded in Afghanistan.
Families are in utter desperation and their
children are being buried every day. The borders
with Pakistan and Iran have been closed. The
innocent have no escape and no hope. If we could
stand in their presence for a moment, and see
their torment, we would weep with the same grief
of our own loss.
Let us who enter this plea call upon our
governments, the President of the United States
and the United Nations to focus their response on
the actual perpetrators of this atrocity and not
the innocent people within their country. And let
us announce to the world that our ultimate
mission is to provide these refugees with food,
shelter and medical treatment, once we have
ascertained that their relief will not be stolen
by oppressors. This should be the same for all
such desperate people, whether they be from
Rwanda, or Indonesia; Israel or Palestine, Serbia
or Kosovo, Afghanistan or New York. Rather than
perpetuate hatred and the escalating cycle of
violence, let us perplex those who hate us by
continuing in our general faith in the ultimate
goodness of mankind, for every religion devoted
to One Creator proclaims that we treat one
another with compassion and the love of God.
And if terrorists should choose to demonstrate
their cowardice to their own people by using them
as shields against us, that will only harden our
resolve to heal the torment of these people, for
we remember our own desperate struggle for
freedom through bitter cold and starvation just
two and a quarter centuries ago. In our moment of
pain and suffering let us continue to carry the
torch of hope and the treasure of compassion to
all mankind. We are Americans; We are Citizens of
the World. We are Washington and Madison; We are
Martin Luther King, we are Einstein; Emerson and
Thoreau; We are the love and compassion of
Christ, Gandhi and Mohammed. They carried a
message: That we are to uphold our principles of
freedom and justice and never compromise these as
we uphold peace with all innocent people of the
world. If we are to uphold these principles
without double-standard, we must take steps to
assure that people in all countries with whom we
have commerce are assured similar human rights
and freedom from oppressive working conditions,
lest we give validity to our enemy's accusations
of oppression.
Despite the bitter and incomprehensible loss of
American Life this week, to conclude or act on
the belief that all Muslims are terrorists is the
moral equivalent of concluding that all Americans
are like Timothy McVeigh. To attack Muslim
Americans is to become terrorists ourselves.
Christ would have said: "Father forgive them
for they know not what they do". In this
great nation, we embrace our differences of
opinions and beliefs, and our spirit of humanity
will unite us.
As Martin Luther King reminded us, "Violence
...is both impractical and immoral. It is
impractical because it is a descending spiral
ending in destruction for all. The old law of an
eye for an eye leaves everyone blind. It is
immoral because it seeks to humiliate the
opponent rather than win his understanding; it
seeks to annihilate rather than convert. Violence
is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather
than love. It destroys community and makes
brotherhood impossible. Violence ends by
defeating itself. It creates no more than
bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the
destroyers." Let us heed this sound
reasoning and rebuke all leaders who attempt to
use this tragedy to incite our anger and join
their wars of oppression. Let us heal these
wounds as well and insist on freedom from
oppression for the all people. "May the
conscience and common sense of people be
awakened, so that we may bring about a new era in
the life of nations, from which we may look back
on war as an incomprehensible aberration of our
forefathers!"(Einstein)
We Will Love Our Neighbors; and Love Our Enemies
until they are Our Enemies No Longer, for ONLY
VIOLENCE IS OUR ENEMY. - Let this be a national
and international referendum.
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