A Call to Break the Silence, to Stand for Peace and to Work for Social and Economic Justice

by Rev. Nelson Johnson and the Pulpit Forum of Greensboro and Vicinity

Apr. 22, 2008

[This pamphlet was initially drafted by Rev. Nelson Johnson and accepted and distributed by the Greensboro Pulpit Forum to its member churches in January 2003 in preparation for its Annual Celebration of the life, prophetic work and teaching of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at Bethel AME Church. As we continue to be in the midst of a war and rumors of more wars, we were moved to share this statement in its entirety once again. Please read it prayerfully and contact the Pulpit Forum for further discussion:
Rev. Dr. Gregory T. Headen
President, Greensboro Pulpit Forum
PO Box 20326
Greensboro, NC 27420
(336) 379-1133 – Genesis Baptist Church]

INTRODUCTION:

We come both as religious leaders and citizens of this nation to express our opposition to the culture of war with all its implications, now pervasive in our nation. We are persuaded that violence and war are not the solution to our current differences with Iraq, Korea, Afghanistan, Iran, other nations and/or peoples. In fact, war with its call to uncritical patriotism tends to prevent us from coming to terms with the true underlying causes of the current crisis, especially our nation's part in creating it. Instead, we become trapped in the oversimplified notion of "evil people (them) versus good people (us)" as an explanation.

We have not come to the position of opposing our nation's war culture and the pending war with Iraq lightly. It is not our intention to uphold or lend support to terrorism in any form or to close our eyes to inhumane policies or the violation of basic human rights and civil liberties in any nation, including our own. We are aware that some may misunderstand our position as unpatriotic. With all of its flaws, we love our country. We, whose foreparents endured the long centuries of brutal slavery and the terror of lynch law, are all too aware of the capacity of our nation to rationalize inhumane policies as it pursues political and economic interests. Yes, we love our nation; but not uncritically. We love our nation enough to seek to change policies we believe to be seriously flawed.

True patriotism calls us to the highest ideals of America, not to blind submission based on fear, misinformation and confusion. These ideals include the proposition that all persons are created equal and that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We hold these ideals as valid not only for U.S. citizens but for all of God's children. Upholding such ideals is the highest form of patriotism, a patriotism guided by inner truth, not political expediencies.

We are, therefore, compelled by conscience to speak because we believe that humanity is faced with the most dangerous period in all of human history. Never before has the capacity for total human destruction existed on the level it exists today. Never before has the world been so entangled and polarized between the "have and have nots." And, never before have we had a leadership so willing to use this nation's current capacity for massive catastrophic violence, including nuclear weapons, as an acceptable solution. Even without using the total capacity of our military might, the pattern of "policy by war" or the threat of war on which we are now embarked would have devastating consequences for impoverished nations and people around the world, especially for the poor, including the poor within our nation.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., arguably the greatest religious and social leader ever produced by our nation, has so eloquently made the case against war and violence. Sadly, Dr. King's stand against war and violence and its inner connection with economic exploitation, racism and domination are hardly mentioned in the national press, even on the occasion of the celebration of his birthday. We feel it our Christian duty and a fitting tribute to Dr. King to set forth our opposition to the rapidly developing war preparations, to take our stand as peacemakers and to commit ourselves to the work of social and economic justice on this, the seventeenth year of the national holiday commemorating the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Resolution of the Pulpit Forum of Greensboro Presented at the King Day Service January 20, 2003

Whereas we are assembled on January 20, 2003, at St. James Baptist Church in Greensboro, North Carolina, the launching place of the historic sit-in movement in the United States, to commemorate, celebrate and emulate the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.;

And, whereas Dr. King was a disciple of Jesus of Nazareth, a 20th century prophet and a staunch advocate of social justice and world peace through non-violent engagement;

And, whereas Dr. King made clear that the vocation of Christians is to be universal peacemakers in his declaration that "the relationship of this ministry to making peace is so obvious that I marvel at those who ask me why I am speaking against war. Could it be that they do not know that the good news was meant for all men -- for communist and capitalist, for their children and for ours, for black and for white, for revolutionary and conservative? Have they forgotten that my ministry is in obedience to the one (Jesus) who loved his enemy so fully that he died for them?" (p.234);

And, whereas Dr. King in speaking to those whose loyalty is first to nation or race or creed declared that "I must be true to my conviction that I share with all men the calling to be a son of the living God. Beyond the calling of race or nation or creed is the vocation of sonship and brotherhood, because I believe that the Father is deeply concerned especially for his suffering and hapless and outcast children, I have come tonight to speak for them." (p.234);

And, whereas Dr. King spoke clearly to the hypocrisy in our culture and specifically to Christians who advocate support for non-violence at home and are silent in the face of violence by our own nation abroad. In taking his stand, Dr. King declared "I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today -- my own government. For the sake of those boys, for the sake of this government, for the sake of the hundreds of thousands trembling under our violence, I cannot be silent." (p.233);

And, whereas Dr. King recognized the reality that war means a massive economic assault on the poor as well as spiritual decline of the nation. In expressing this view Dr. King emphasized that "America could never invest the necessary funds or energies in the rehabilitation of the poor so long as adventures like Vietnam [Iraq, Korea, Iran, Afghanistan, etc.] continued to draw men and skills and money…. So I was increasingly compelled to see the war as the enemy of the poor and to attack it as such… A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death." (p. 233);

And, whereas Dr. King recognized that war undermines the moral fabric of a society when he declared, "It is curious that the Americans, who calculate so carefully on the possibilities of military victory, do not realize that in the process they are incurring deep psychological and political defeat. The image of America will never again be the image of revolution, freedom and democracy, but the image of violence and militarism." (p. 238);

And, whereas Dr. King further elaborated that, "We must shift from a 'thing-oriented' society to a 'person-oriented' society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered." (p.240);

And, whereas Dr. King recognized that much of the popular language of freedom, anti-terrorism, democracy, etc. is often disguised language for our exploitative economic interests. In this regard, Dr. King asserts that "our interest requires a 'pattern' of suppression which now justifies U.S. military 'advisors'… and the need to maintain social stability (control) for our investment accounts for the counter-revolutionary action (war) of American Force.…" (p.240);

And whereas the evidence supports and integrity requires that we acknowledge that a major interest of our nation in both Iraq and Afghanistan is related to oil;

And whereas our nation has supported both Osama Ben Laden and Saddam Hussein in pursuing its interest in previous conflicts and now that these persons have become, in the language of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), "blowback" elements, we must bear some responsibility for their status and current roles;

And whereas, even if every claim made by President Bush (an avowed Christian) and the current administration is true (and we do not believe that every claim is all true), Christian scriptural teaching calls us to "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…" (Matthew 5:43, RSV);

And whereas Christian scriptural teachings proclaim that we are to "Repay no one evil for evil, but take thought of what is noble in the sight of all.… Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." (Romans 12:17 & 21, RSV);

And whereas Christian scriptural teaching is clear that "God shows no partiality," (Acts 10:34) but rather the life of every individual is valued equally in the sight of God, consequently the lives of the poorest peasant in Afghanistan or the thousands of starving children in Iraq and other places are as valued as the lives of American citizens;

And whereas we as a nation are provided with the opportunity to more fully understand ourselves, our history and current role in the world by seeing the truth in Dr. King's statement on compassion and nonviolence: "Here is the true meaning and value of compassion and nonviolence when it helps us to see the enemy's point of view, to hear his questions, to know his assessment of ourselves. For from his view we may indeed see the basic weaknesses of our own condition and if we are mature, we may learn and grow and profit from the wisdom of brothers who are called the opposition;"

And whereas Christian scriptural teachings implore us to "be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." (James 1:22 RSV);

And whereas Dr. King in a similar "war culture situation" related to Vietnam exhorts that "we in the churches and synagogues have a continuing task while we urge our government to disengage itself from a disgraceful commitment. We must continue to raise our voices if our nation persists in its perverse ways…. We are at a moment when our lives must be placed on the line if our nation is to survive its own folly. Every man [person] of humane convictions must decide on the protest that best suits his convictions, but we must all protest." (p.240);

BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED:

That the Pulpit Forum of Greensboro and Vicinity declares its strong opposition to the war and commits itself to protest the planned war with Iraq and the current war culture with its promise of the systematic killing of large numbers of people, the destruction of the infrastructures of nations and the bringing of further hardships on the poor;

And, be it further resolved that the Pulpit Forum opposes the dismantling of hard won civil rights and civil liberties and the objective promotion of racism and increased hardship on the poor flowing from the culture of war;

And be it further resolved that the Pulpit Forum opposes the current actions and plans for detention and/or expulsion without due process of law of people who have been singled out solely because of their religion or national origin with the implied accusation that these religions and places of birth produce the proclivity towards terrorism;

And, be it further resolved that the Pulpit Forum commits itself to pray for peace and to reach out to other churches, faiths and the broader community in a call for collective prayers for peace.

And, be it further resolved that the Forum, together with the broader community, will develop and promote an education curriculum on the meaning and implications of the current war culture for use by churches and the broader community. The curriculum will set forth the Christian scriptural basis for opposition to war and the culture of war, including:

1. The theological, social and moral basis for opposition to war and the culture of war
2. The economic basis for opposition to war and the war culture
3. The impetrative to be proactive in opposing the war and forging a peace culture.

And, be it further resolved that the Forum will sponsor, in cooperation with other organizations and the broader community, a conference in April of 2003 on the implication of war and the war culture, with particular emphasis on its impact on the poor;

And, be it further resolved that the Forum will seek creative means to protest the war such as prayer, education and direct action, including civil disobedience and other activities consistent with the spirit of non-violent engagement.

Be it further resolved that the Forum will seek to share its convictions on a state and national level within the religious and secular communities and seek opportunities to work with other faith perspectives and organizations and groups in opposing the war, in particular , the Greensboro Peace Coalition.

In the spirit of this resolution, we invite church members and the broader community to join us in seven days of prayer and fasting, from Sunday, January 26, 2003, at 5:00 PM through Sunday, February 2, 2003, at 5:00 PM. Details will be shared at Monday's King Day Service. You may also call Bethel AME Church at (336) 273-5268.

All quotes attributed to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. were taken from his speech, "A Time to Break Silence," given at Riverside Church, on April 4, 1967. The page references are to the speech as published in the book, A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings of Martin Luther King, Jr., edited By James M. Washington and published by HarperCollins

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