Millions of Americans are united with millions of people around the world praying about a war against Iraq and Saddam Hussein. Amidst the flurry of routinely conflicting news stories and questionable government reports, we at Westminster hear the question, first posed to Adam and Eve as they hid in the garden: Where are you? As always, God’s question is not geographical but personal.

Where are you on war against Iraq — what are you feeling deeply? What questions are you asking? What personal history influences your view of this war? How does your faith inform your thinking? What spiritual disciplines help you discern your place?

At this hour in American history, because of its global and domestic implications, the potential of war in Iraq is the most urgent and troubling religious challenge facing Christians. In my pastoral role, I want to share what I am thinking about, the questions I am asking, the biblical theology I am probing, and invite you to do two things:

First, because we have no control over the course of this war, but care intensely, please join me in praying each day for global security and peace, for all world leaders, and our military personnel now being deployed to the Middle East.

Second, because I value knowing your inquiry, please share with me how you are thinking about this war, the questions you are asking, and the readings that make sense to you.

I do not believe in war and I am not a pacifist. War is not a direct or reliable path to justice and peace, but failing to respond to danger and evil is a perilous path of retreat from justice and peace. With profound regret, I am open to a military engagement if weapons of mass destruction, the means to conduct biological warfare, or delivery systems (whether by missiles or terrorists) are found by United Nations inspectors. I will see this as a Just War if there is a globally recognized direct link between the government of Saddam Hussein and any of the terrorist networks around the world, most especially Osma Bin Laden and al Qaeda.

In spiritually pondering this war I envisioned two pictures. The first is a wide angle shot of devastated cities throughout Iraq, streams of refugees, famine and disease, stunned orphans, corpses everywhere, and the fabric of Iraqi culture, civilization, and society shattered. The second scene is a close-in portrait of 23 of WPC’s male high school seniors who are or will soon turn 18, or who have entered college and careers over the past 6 years, who would be drafted into military service in Iraq. With each picture I ask, is this what we want for the already suffering, innocent non-combatants in Iraq? Is this what we want for the youth of our community and nation? Spiritually, what frames your thinking about these "costs of war?"

Given the attacks against this nation on September 11, 2001, later attempts, and the certainty that more aggression is planned, I have wrestled with the fast growing sentiment that it is now unpatriotic, even subversive to question government leaders and policies. Deja vu! In 1973 Jewish theologian, Abraham Heschel, responded to President Johnson’s outrage over public questioning of and challenges to his policies in Vietnam. He reminded the President that the patriarch Abraham questioned and argued with no less than God about the justice of God’s decision to destroy two cities. Do we not have, at the very least, a religious obligation to question, challenge, and, if so moved, to protest this war? How does your faith speak to these obligations?

We know the slaughter that Saddam Hussein personally ordered and his military unquestioningly carried out with poison gases against tens of thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians in the ‘80’s. We know all too well his attempt to take over Kuwait and the fact that he shot 39 Scud missiles at Israel. I ask myself, do we not have the obligation to intervene before he launches whatever weapons he might possess — intervene on behalf of the Iraqi citizenry, our own people, and both the Palestinians and Israelis? How does your faith inform your reflections on these issues?

If the primary concern in advancing to war is to remove Saddam Hussein, are not the allied nations absolutely morally mandated to show an exceedingly greater concern and respect for the Iraqi people than Hussein has? This war must be proportional, meaning that the combatant nations actively limit the harm they do to the Iraqi people and nation. The allied nations must also remain in Iraq long enough to ensure the rebuilding of national politics, civil infrastructures, and to secure the resources of Iraq for the benefit of that nation and its peoples. How do you think biblically about liberation?

The Just War Theory, printed on the back of the bulletin, is one of my spiritual guideposts. I only add to the list that the purpose of the war is widely recognized as moral.

I care intensely about the approaching war so I am engaged in the following spiritual practices, to which I also invite you:

First, I am staying centered in Christ consciousness, which is to say keeping my thinking and contemplation on a sacred plane.

Second, I am maintaining the spiritual disciplines of (a) being present to the issues rather than indifferent or in denial, (b) praying for wisdom and peace, (c) studying the systemic issues from a variety of viewpoints, and (d) seeking discernment of what God is calling me to think, say, and do.

Third, I remain suspicious of what comes in the news and from government sources — suspicious but not cynical.

Fourth, I seek humility knowing that a few will order and wage this war, but all of us will be responsible for it. I also seek humility so that I am not caught up in a nationalistic war that is fought solely to benefit American interests.

My prayer for this nation and the world is an adaptation of that of Abraham Heschel in 1971. Let us pray, "Help us, our God, to overcome any arrogance of power. Guide and inspire the President of the United States in finding a speedy, generous, and peaceful end to the threat of war and any [war we undertake against Iraq]."