Support for Iraq war, concern for religious minorities grows
By Craig M. Kibler, The Layman Online, March 21, 2003
As polls show Americans overwhelmingly supporting President Bush’s handling of the situation in Iraq, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom is urging the United States to remind foreign governments of their responsibility to protect the lives and freedoms of members of minority religious communities.
Members of the commission are concerned that extremists have tried to portray military action against Iraq as part of an alleged U.S. attack on Islam. The panel said those extremists have tried to imply that retribution will be sought against Christians, Jews and others throughout the Islamic world, as well as in the West, who are perceived as having some affiliation or affinity with the United States or its coalition partners.
The Associated Press reported Friday that about two-thirds of Americans approve of Bush’s handling of Iraq and think he did enough diplomatically before invading. An ABC-Washington Post poll found the president’s job approval rating at 67 percent, up from pre-war polls that showed his approval level ranging from the mid 50s to about 60 percent.
A CBS-New York Times poll found that 62 percent say they think the United States did the right thing about Iraq, the Associated Press reported, and slightly more in a CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll, 70 percent, said they agreed this country took military action at the right time. Pre-war polls showed the public was split on military action without the backing of the United Nations.
The poll numbers support the position taken Tuesday by leaders of the Association of Church Renewal who said that statements by church officials opposing war with Iraq do not represent the views of most members of those churches.
“This is not a new phenomenon,” said association chairman James Heidinger of Good News, a magazine dedicated to renewal in the United Methodist Church. “Most church elites do not consult the members of the church before issuing such statements, largely because they know that their opinions are not representative.”
“The simple fact is that in this issue – as is the case with many others wherein denominational officials purport to speak for their constituencies – ecclesiastical bureaucrats are making statements that most of their members would disavow,” said Parker Williamson, chief executive officer of the Presbyterian Lay Committee and editor in chief of its publications.
“Reverends Clifton Kirkpatrick (Presbyterian), Frank Griswold (Episcopal), Melvin Talbert (United Methodist) and their associates are not leaders. They are moving in lockstep, marching to the cadence of the National Council of Churches, an organization that has scant credibility among Protestant Christians in the United States,” he said.
In a letter to Secretary of State Colin Powell, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom wrote that, “Particularly during times of tension and danger, all governments have a heightened obligation to protect against reprisal the safety and security of their minority communities, including religious minorities, as well as to honor the right of victims of persecution to seek refuge by crossing borders, if needed.”
“The danger could be particularly acute in Pakistan where leaders of a political coalition, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, have made threats to consider any attack as one ‘on the whole Muslim world.’ In response, the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance has expressed fear for all minorities and urged the Pakistani government to take all precautionary measures to protect them.
“The Commission believes such fears are well-founded. The government of Pakistan has worked closely with the United States in the war on terrorism, including finding and capturing al-Qaida leaders. Yet, since the beginning of coalition military action in Afghanistan following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, there have been repeated attacks against Christian churches, schools, and charitable and medical institutions in Pakistan, leaving scores of innocent men, women, and children dead or maimed. Although the Musharraf government has deplored these incidents, the authorities have so far failed to bring the perpetrators to justice,” the commission wrote, adding:
“The U.S. government should take every possible measure to insist that governments of countries where minority religious communities are threatened make concerted efforts to protect the security and rights of those communities, particularly in countries where attacks against religious minorities have occurred in the past.”
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom is an independent federal agency created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to give recommendations to the executive branch and the Congress.