October 5, 2002

Dear Colleagues in Wisconsin ministries,

The current days are very troubling for all of us as we hear, read and experience the debates and preparations which some in our government are making toward war. With you I have been increasingly distressed. I have written to our senators, my representative and to the President. I have prayed without ceasing. I do not believe it is appropriate at this time for our government to begin a war with Iraq.

So many both in this nation and in Iraq will be hurt or destroyed by such a war: Children will be killed. The poor and young will be the primary persons asked to fight. My faith, the wisdom of our tradition, and the agreed upon positions of the United Methodist Church cause me to cry out: "Stop this madness. We must not declare war and begin a pre-emptive strike against Iraq."

There is little doubt that President Saddam Hussein has hurt his people and his nation. He has been uncooperative in the past with the United Nations. But I believe the United States must not be caught up in like acts of hatred, violence, oppression and retribution. We are a people of great compassion and resolve. We must do all we can to bring peace and justice to the world.

Attached to this note you will find a letter from your former colleague and now President of the Council of Bishops, Sharon Brown Christopher. The letter is being distributed across the world to all United Methodists for their hearing and reading. Please share her letter with your congregations. Bishop Christopher admonishes us to remember our history, our tradition, our commitments. And she reminds us we must both pray and act. As Wisconsin United Methodists, I urge you to heed her call and to respond during this very critical time.

God is with us. We need not fear. Let us be strong in our faith, in our communities, and in our witness in and to the world.

In peace.
Sharon Zimmerman Rader

Bishop Christopher asked that this be sent to each of you. Conference communicators are being asked to circulate her letter with churches to read it during Sunday worship.

The complete text is as follows:

October 4, 2002

Dear United Methodist Sisters and Brothers in Faith:

As the president of Council of Bishops, I write to you with a sense of urgency about the present perilous state of our world. I do so because 1) the Gospel of peace needs to be heard; 2) our United Methodist Social Principles offer guidance, and 3) our General Conference expects the Council of Bishops to "speak to the Church and from the Church to the world."

Nothing could be clearer than that the Gospel of Christ is a Gospel of peace. Jesus rejects the violent response to evil. "He who takes the sword will perish by the sword." Jesus, speaking to us about a new way of living, proclaims that peacemakers are blessed and that "they will be called children of God." He moves the standard even higher by urging us to love our enemies and "pray for those who persecute you." Paul tells us that we are not to return evil for evil, but are to "overcome evil with good."

Our General Conference, on the basis of these Gospel teachings, declares: "Some nations possess more military and economic power than do others. Upon the powerful rests responsibility to exercise their wealth and influence with restraint.... We believe war is incompatible with the teachings and example of Christ. We therefore reject war as a usual instrument of national foreign policy and insist that the first moral duty of all nations is to resolve by peaceful means every dispute that arises between or among them."

Without question, Saddam Hussein is in gross violation of numerous United Nations resolutions, and President Bush is to be commended for calling the United Nations to accountability on this score. The United States and the United Nations should take the steps necessary to ensure compliance.

But a preemptive war by the United States against a nation like Iraq goes against the very grain of our understanding of the Gospel, our church's teachings, and our conscience. Preemptive strike does not reflect restraint and does not allow for the adequate pursuit of peaceful means for resolving conflict. To be silent in the face of such a prospect is not an option for followers of Christ.

There is no question that President Hussein's demonstrated behavior leaves any thoughtful person horrified by his treatment of his own citizens and the citizen's of Iraq's neighboring countries. However, ours has been historically a church seeking peace, justice, and reconciliation. Even as we acknowledge the need for military action as a means of self-defense demanded by highly unusual circumstances, our primary allegiance is to what we understand the basics of the Gospel of Jesus Christ require of us­ grace, mercy, peace, justice, and love.

So, I call all of us to prayer. Pray for the leaders of the nations, many of whom bear the name of Christ, that they may truly be led by the spirit of Christ as crucial decisions are made. Write and phone them, letting them know of your deep concern. Especially lift your prayers for United Methodists President Bush and Vice-President Cheney, that they may truly seek the will of God in Christ as they make awesome decisions of life and death, war and peace.

In Christ,

Sharon A. Brown Christopher
c: President George W. Bush
Vice President Richard Cheney