Prepared by:
The Commission on Social Justice and Human Concerns
CME Convocation
September 25 - 28, 2001
Nashville, TN
The catastrophic attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon that destroyed more than 6,000 lives thus far, seriously injured thousands more and forever scarred unknown numbers of survivors, cry out for multiple messages of Godly assurance and comfort in this troubling and uncertain time.
Through our shock and horror we are called to remember that the God, Whose will created the universe, neither slumbers nor sleeps and reigns supreme on His unshakeable throne.
To Him we pray for the families and communal circles of the victims, whose consolation we share as they endure the pain of one of the most trying ordeals ever to test the nation's democratic resolve and resilience.
While we lift them up in supplication, we are biblically reminded of our righteous obligation to condemn, in the strongest possible term, the crazed and fanatical acts that inflicted this almost indescribably human and material loss, especially in lower and mid-Manhattan where seniors and the working poor are reeling from this mind-numbing tragedy of epic proportions.
Surely the profound consequences of the perpetrators' zealous insanity, which are only beginning to be measured in untold dimensions, will be felt and grappled with for years to come.
Nevertheless, as we bear up under the weight and strain of these cataclysmic events, we are moved to pay tribute to the very best in America's soul. Within minutes of these tragedies, we witnessed countless acts of bravery demonstrated by firefighters and police and rescuers. Under duress of the worst scope and magnitude, and without concern for their own safety, they voluntarily gave their lives in heroic efforts to save the trapped and wounded, screaming and writhing in pain.
More than 300 firefighters lost their lives while feverishly working amid the dim, blinding and throat clogging ash to prevent more deaths among the injured and maimed.
Hundred and thousands more, who, because of time and distance could not physically engage in rescuing victims, gave blood and financial contributions for the families. They have richly earned our salutes and recognition for their unwavering and unyielding service although engulfed by terror and confusion. For those who thought America could be cowed, it was a defiant declaration that they were wrong.
All of these efforts were commendable, and the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church must reaffirm how proud we are to be Americans. We love America! Some of us have tilled its soil and many of us own some of its land! We have stood within the hallowed walls and halls of our institutions and have sung our National Anthem, our African American National Anthem and "God Bless America." We Love America!
But our prophetic role made dramatically clear and plain for us in this crisis hour is to speak and spiritually reinforce what saith the Lord.
This prophetic role challenges us, indeed bids us with undeniable Biblical clarity to raise serious questions about America's stewardship of the power and resources under her control.
We are called, like the Old Testament prophets who challenged the conventional wisdom that drove the kings of that time, to question the nation's policies toward countries of color during the last five decades.
President Bush said in his speech to the nation following the atrocious acts of terrorist that we were attacked because the United States is "the brightest beacon of freedom and opportunity in the world," and the perpetrator of the attacks wants to stamp out this beacon.
Are we content to accept the president's explanation that we are hated so intensely and these events occurred because this enemy resents our being a country of freedom and opportunity? Are we content to believe that it was our best that brought this about? That these cowardly deeds were born of envy and jealousy? Or should we ask what actions of our government could be perceived by some as so terribly wrong as to evoke such hatred and anger and cause such a ghastly response? For example, how long did America support Apartheid in South Africa and keep oppressive regimes in office? Why did we not allow our Secretary of State, Colin Powell, to attend the World Conference on racism? Why did we order our sub-level staff to walk out of the Conference? Are we so arrogant that we cannot talk to the people of the world? Do we think we are invincible?
In reviewing foreign policy since the early 1950's, we've seen a dangerous trend, beginning in Central and South America, throughout the world of color. We cannot help but question the consequences of financing dictators who built enormous wealth by filling their coffers with tax dollars intended to relieve suffering and hunger. Those funds, intended to develop economic lifelines for the poor and historically oppressed, became the weapon, which held the destitute in poverty.
Now we must question, as hostilities against America rage in Central and South America, Asia, and the Middle East, whether those funds, held hostage by dictators throughout these decades, created the conditions that spawned this current crop of crazed religious fanatics? Have not policy experts warned, over and over in the intervening, years, that men, obsessed with anger, would lead the vulnerable on suicidal crusades to raise themselves to the stature of the world's most powerful nation?
In the light of this history on which our questions are raised, we are also bound by Christian compassion to send forth a word of caution urging President George Bush to resist reliance on divisive rhetoric.
We caution our national leaders not to rush to judgment on who is to blame. While we continue to shed tears and feel unbearable pain for the thousands of innocent victims, we ask them not to allow hate-drenched comments and racial acts targeting any religious or ethnic group to prevail during a period marked by more questions than answers.
We urge our government to base its investigation of this atrocity on the facts, not on speculation. Let us not forget that in the first 48 hours of the Oklahoma City Bombing, the FBI was searching for two Arab men in connection with the bombing. Even though the third day brought about search for a home grown terrorist, the first two days of anti-Muslim rhetoric led to hundreds of hate crimes committed against innocent American Muslims. There have already been incidents of severe harassment against American Muslims. To blame them for this untold act would be like blaming Christians for Timothy McVeigh's atrocious act at the Alfred P. Murray Federal Building. People of all faiths died in this tragedy.
We also caution our government not to rush toward war. So many of our leaders are rattling their sabers, lusting for revenge. Have not we learned from recent history as it relates to dealing with terrorist organizations? Bombing them will not ultimately work. We cannot bomb away evil.
Military strikes in the past against Libya in 1986 because of bombing of a West Berlin disco frequented by U.S. Military personnel; against Iraq in 1993 because of it threat to kill former President George H. W. Bush; and against Afghanistan and Sudan in 1988 to retaliate for attacks on U.S. Embassy did not destroy or cripple terrorist operation. The swift attacks may have satisfied the thirst for revenge, but they were insufficient in destroying terrorist networks. The next generation of terrorist will only come back with continued and even more dangerous fanaticism.
In recent years, according to Suzy Parker of USA Today, acts of terrorism have grown less frequent, but more deadly. We are spending more money on terrorism each year the death toll is climbing.
We believe that if our government a model of justice and love. We brag that the terrorism, it must become a model of justice and love. We brag that the United States is the model of freedom. If this is so, and if we want to stem hatred throughout the world, let us make a commitment to model love and justice. Also, let us work with the rest of the world, not just with the Christian and Jewish nations, but with Muslims alike. We may not agree with their philosophies or their religions, but we can learn to respect them rather than support one nation blindly and unilaterally at the expense of other nations. We need to interact with all countries and not hide behind our arrogance of pseudo-power.
The world's most powerful country must not be afraid to engage at all levels. We cannot separate ourselves because strong words may be directed at us, as the current administration did in not going to the United Nations' recent Conference on Racism. Putting all of our "safety eggs in a ballistic-missile basket" is an unwise thing to do.
Lastly, we would urge our government to remember the Biblical truth that asserts: "not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of Host" (Zechariah 4:6). The French military genius Napoleon Bonaparte caught the spirit of this Biblical axiom and said: "In this world there are two forces: the sword and the spirit. The spirit has always conquered the sword."
The prophet Micah gives a capsule of our entire thesis as his voice rings out across the corridors of history: "He hath shown thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?"