Under cover of sham “negotiations,” in an attempted denial of political gravity, likely setting the stage for triggering the 1976 National Emergency Act for an electoral takeover leading up to November’s midterm elections and the threat of being found culpable in human trafficking, our president has started another war.
The fundamental lie at the root of our nation’s crisis is a theological heresy: That the United States has a “manifest destiny,” that we are the one “exceptional” nation, and we are so because God has “anointed” us as such.
Ken Sehested
Which is why people in the way of Jesus must collaborate with all people of conscience, of faith or no faith, to stand in the face of our nation’s presidential psychosis to say a clear, unambiguous and vehement NO to this military adventurism.
On the first Sunday on Lent in 2007, when tensions between the U.S. and Iran were escalating, Circle of Mercy Congregation unanimously adopted a statement (“We Say No: A Christian Statement in Opposition to War with Iran”) opposing an attack on Iran.
In 2012, with the assassination of another Iranian scientist — the fourth to be targeted in two years — tensions between our two countries were again at a boiling point. The congregation released the same statement again.
Now, we reiterate these sentiments in another Lenten season.
“The fundamental lie at the root of our nation’s crisis is a theological heresy.”
What was true then is true now:
Despite assurances to the contrary from the U.S. administration, we believe our nation’s leaders may be seriously calculating the benefits and risks of attacking Iran. Our reading of this moment in history, in light of our commitments as citizens and our convictions as followers of Jesus, impels us to oppose such a move.
We fear our political leadership … is pushing us to the brink of moral, financial, ecological and diplomatic bankruptcy.
As with the ancient empire described in the Prophet Habakkuk’s oracle, our government is setting its “national interests” above international norms of justice, usurping all authority to itself. With an escalating military budget — already larger than those of all other nations combined — we seem to have established our own destructive threat as the source of national glory and honor.
It is not our habit to engage in partisanship on any political party’s agenda. We believe in the separation of church and state. But not in the separation of values from public policy.
In the Magisterial Reformation, legacies of the Christian community (toward which some in our congregation lean) there is a tradition of invoking a status confessionis, of declaring that some moments in history require the church to refuse neutrality and abandon silence. And in the Radical Reformation traditions (various Ana/baptists, toward which others of us lean), Jesus’ insistence on loving enemies precludes the willingness to kill them.
Not only are these religious convictions suffering scandal; so, too, are the core values of this republic’s founding. It was Thomas Jefferson, in 1807, who asserted, “The spirit of this country is totally averse to a large military force.” …
Competition in belligerent behavior carries catastrophic risks. The only enduring security is mutual security.
Another way is possible. Waging peace will require at least as much commitment — as much courage, pride, honor and ingenuity — as the pursuit of war.
We say no to war against Iran. It is both a contradiction to the way of the Cross and a defamation of national honor. We say yes to the strategies of multilateral diplomacy and other nonviolent initiatives. We invite other Christians, other people of faith, and other people of conscience to deliberate these convictions and consider similar commitments. …
Sisters and brothers, especially in the household of faith: The Apostle Paul’s instruction to overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21b) is both a spiritual truth and the foundation for politically realistic strategies to transform conflict. The way of the Cross leads home.
Ken Sehested is the author and editor of prayerandpolitiks.org, an online journal at the intersection of spiritual formation and prophetic action.