From the Reformed Churches in Biel-Bienne, Switzerland
February 5 2003
Dear sisters and brothers in the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA,
Be assured of our sympathy with the tradition of freedom your people and their churches have, with which we Christians in Switzerland know ourselves to be closely linked in many ways.
Unfortunately no news is reaching us through the official media about your spiritual, ecumenical and public commitment to the resolution and prevention of a needless war by the US government against Iraq and its population, which has been starved and in need for years.
The NCC represents 36 churches and more than 50 million American Christians of different backgrounds, languages, social status and race. A delegation visited Iraq - Abraham's country of origin - to get a picture of the population's misery, in particular of the women and children, and to talk with representatives of all abrahamic religions. You called for a day of prayer and fasting on January 27 2003, in the belief that powerlessness cannot be an excuse before God, and that we should not give up hope:
"We can still stop this war."
This witness encourages us to raise our voices to support you in your position.
- Your nation feels attacked at its very heart by a terrorist attack that showed no respect for human life. All the more do we share your deep conviction in faith, that a war of vengeance is not a legitimate means of solving conflicts.
- God's mercy does not want human sacrifices, but life for all in solidarity, sister- and brotherhood, equality and justice. The US government is threatening a "sacrificial" isolationism outside international law, blackmailing the organs of the UN into making its "desired" decisions, and potentially also endangering the neutrality of the UN inspectors. This dynamic is a cause for alarm. We share your deep concern that this could destroy international law and send US soldiers to a senseless sacrificial death.
- God's love desires the reconciliation of all people, not the profit of a few at the cost of all. It is in contravention of Christ's Way and example to assign the evil in the world solely to our opponents, and to pursue the goal of self-justification in the name of Christianity against the members of another religious community.
- The Holy Scriptures call upon all the Abrahamic religions not to take God's name in vain but to worship it, because only through this can peace and healing be brought to all people. War and the breaching of the law cannot be justified by the Gospel.
We pray for you to hold firmly your position, and we ask for God's blessing on your success.
Signed by representatives and members of the German- and French-speaking Reformed Churches in Biel-Bienne, Switzerland
