NCC leaders claim ‘successful’ anti-war campaign
By Parker T. Williamson, The Layman Online, November 15, 2002
TAMPA, Fla. – Robert Edgar, executive secretary of the National Council of Churches, has told his executive board that denominational leaders had been “successful” in their assault against the Bush administration’s “rush to war against Iraq.”
Describing their campaign as a “season of peacemaking project,” Edgar reported on various meetings of denominational executives, resolutions, media events and protest rallies that had been orchestrated and coordinated by the NCC.
Campaign activities
Edgar said the focal point of the NCC-led campaign occurred between Sept. 23-27 when more than 450 “religious persons” went to Washington, D.C., for personal meetings with House and Senate members. Included in the event was a “candlelight prayer vigil” in which they circled the Capitol. Edgar said they were successful in getting one television personality, Bill Moyers, to film a clip of their activities for his show, but that otherwise the press ignored the event.
“It was very disappointing that there was so little press coverage,” Edgar said. “Some of our best statements were made during that event, but few Americans had access to what was said.”
The NCC leader said that, as part of the campaign, he led a delegation of “religious persons” to the Middle East, hoping that they could change the image of Iraq that had been perpetrated by the media. When the press shows pictures of Saddam Hussein, he is usually holding a gun, Edgar said. “We wanted the American people to see images of Iraqi children instead.”
‘Churches’ against Bush
A member of the NCC’s executive board who identified herself as being part of the Church Center for the United Nations echoed Edgar’s complaint about press coverage.
“At the Church Center, we learned that the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. was given the impression that the church community was behind the president of the United States,” she said. “So, we collected statements that leaders of our member communions have put out, and we sent them to the secretary-general of the U.N. and all members of the U.N. Security Council. We wanted them to know that we are not necessarily with President Bush on this issue.”
At several points during the ensuing discussion, members of the executive board reiterated their claim that the NCC “speaks for 50 million Americans.” Presumably, that is the total membership of the communions that are part of the NCC.
A ‘real impact’
According to Edgar, more than 120,000 faxes were sent to Congress during the three most intensive weeks of the NCC-led campaign. “We had a real impact,” he said.
Other than naming the number of meetings, resolutions from church leaders, trips and rallies, Edgar did not specify what he meant by the claim that his group had made a “real impact.” By an overwhelming majority, Congress voted to grant President Bush the power to use military power if necessary in order to force Saddam Hussein to disarm.
That overwhelming majority included Presbyterian lawmakers who were not swayed by either the NCC or the denomination’s arguments. Of the 43 Presbyterians in the House and the Senate, 33 (76.7 percent) voted in favor of the resolution – 90 percent of the Presbyterians in the Senate and 73.4 percent of those in the House.
The Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (USA), complimented Edgar on the work he had done in orchestrating this movement, and suggested that as the NCC campaign continues, it might want to consider the recent U.N. resolution.
“Given that you now have inspections, and that Iraq has said yes to that, we should express our hope that this will work well. It is important that we see that as a piece of what we do,” Kirkpatrick said.
A draft resolution will be presented to the full NCC General Assembly on Saturday.
Promoting Taco Bell boycott
As the NCC war discussion waned, Kirkpatrick asked the executive board to consider adding another protest to its campaign agenda. He urged NCC leaders to join the boycott of Taco Bell that is being sponsored by the Presbyterian Church (USA), the United Church of Christ, the Socialist Worker, the Unitarian Universalist Migrant Ministry and others.
“I spent yesterday visiting with workers [members of the farm workers union] in Immokalee, and the situation there is very grave,” he said.
After distributing a draft article on the campaign that will appear in the January issue of a Presbyterian Health, Education and Welfare Association newsletter, Kirkpatrick said, “I hope we can take some kind of action proposal to the next meeting of the NCC governing board.”