Peace Pledge:

We choose to love our enemies
and to act against war with Iraq.

An active, nonviolent commitment to Christ's way of peace Sponsored by Mennonite Coalition for Peace with Iraq*

To be followers of Jesus in our present political climate of antiterrorism calls for confession, sensitivity, and boldness.

The past twenty years have been extremely difficult ones for the people of Iraq. They have had to endure an eight-year war with Iran, followed by the Gulf War in 1991, ongoing bombing, and comprehensive U.N. sanctions that have crippled the Iraqi economy and killed thousands upon thousands of children. As Americans, we grieve the role the U.S. government has played in the death and devastation brought upon Iraq. We recognize that local factors have also contributed to the suffering of the Iraqi people. But, as citizens of the United States, it behooves us first and foremost to address the actions for which our government bears responsibility.

To that end, many of us have called on government authorities to seek alternatives to war, to nurture and pursue the ways of peace rather than unleash the fury of war. Now, even as support for military action is growing, we call upon Christians to place their security in God and their primary allegiance in Jesus, who taught us to love our enemies. As an expression of our faith and hope in God, we invite commitments to concrete, nonviolent action that seeks the peace and welfare of the Iraqi people.

As Christians, we are striving to be witnesses to Christ’s peace by supporting better relations between Iraq and the United States. Several times we have sent delegates to Iraq to communicate person-to-person with Christian church leaders, Muslim leaders, and members of the Iraqi government. In May of 2002, as a sign of the light of God that lightens the path between us, we presented leaders of the Christian churches in Iraq with oil lamps bearing the symbol of the Mennonite Church—the dove of God’s spirit of peace. The flame of our witness against war with Iraq burned bright when recently over 17,000 Mennonites signed a letter from Jim Schrag, Executive Director of Mennonite Church USA, to President George W. Bush opposing war against Iraq.

We believe that a war with Iraq is imminent. We recognize that we are in a critical time when the U.S. government might yet be convinced that an invasion will be costly for our relationships with the people of Iraq, the Arab nations, the security of Israel, the lives and mental well-being of those in military service, and the economic stability of the United States. We invite you to join us in prayers and actions for peace by pledging to commit yourself to concrete actions of loving our enemy and acting against war with Iraq.