The Reformed youth network has carried a lively email discussion on the Bush drive to war, with US correspondents distancing themselves from their government and trying to interpret US attitudes to their friends worldwide.

map Rebecca Barnes Davies, a steward at the 23rd general council (Debrecen 1997) writes that "October 10 2002 should be burned into the minds of the American public with shame the way September 11 2001 is burned into our minds with grief." Everyone she knows "disagrees and is angry with" the vote in Congress giving President Bush authority for a pre-emptive, strike-first attach on Iraq. "I am heartened to know that some citizens in our nation are speaking truth to power and pledging allegiance to God before nation."

Ed Chan, a PCUSA delegate in Debrecen, writes that "our churches have not been silent. However, our churches have not been very successful."

The problem, Ed suggests, is fear: "...had a resolution for an attack against Iraq come out on September 10 2001, the people would have voiced strong opposition, and the vote [in Congress] would have surely failed. Now, people are afraid. Our government and perhaps our media have made us afraid of chemical, nuclear, and biological weapons. Because of this fear, our congress people don't want to be accused doing nothing, and thus are afraid of opposing the president... Because of this fear, people are willing to trade away freedoms in hope of getting security... Other concerns such as poverty and the environment (never high priorities for the political party currently in power) are now completely forgotten."

"We live in a time in which civil disobedience is criminalized, in which the government has new power over citizens, in which immigrants and people of colour are more obviously and consistently targeted, and in which we talk of other nations and people in very simplistic terms, such as "evil' and needing to be "gotten rid of'," Rebecca says. She quotes what a pastor friend wrote in a local newspaper: "We are walking into this new world disorder with our eyes wide open, our pride stiff-necked and our brains thoroughly washed. We have long ago ceased to be a trusted moral voice among the diverse chorus of nations. We are simply the most powerful. Not only have we traded our ethics for power, but we have hoodwinked ourselves into believing that the power we wield is ethical."

"In a democracy," Rebecca concludes, "criticism and dissent are patriotic tools and they need to be used, in this situation, now."

Young? Reformed? If you would like to join the Reformed youth network, email Sally Redondo at our WARC office: sjr@warc.ch