AR: Politicians or the Word of God?

Jarod Thomas has published a story in the Adventist Review that speaks to war in general and ISIS in particular--Courage to Set the Table (Nov 16). Thomas shares a striking sentence from his child's devotional: "Peace never comes through war." After recounting the story of Benhadad, Thomas turns to the present world:

It is not an easy thing to apply this story to our current predicament in the United States. With ISIS on the rise, and a multitude of refugees fleeing for stable countries, there is always concern that terror will creep in. But perhaps a greater concern is that politicians, jockeying for votes during a heated election cycle, are more influential in our thinking than the Word of God. When states in the “Bible Belt” begin closing their doors to some of the most needy and desperate people on the planet*—people who have nowhere else to turn—a greater crisis in the Western, Christian world begins to emerge. It is the grave concern of which Jesus warned us, stating that, “because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold (Matthew 24:12).” In the scope of eternity, the lack of Christ-like love in the heart of Jesus' professed followers is a greater problem than the threat of suicide bombers.

The entire article can be read here.

Union College Hosts Interfaith Iraq Memorial

Today is the International Day of Non-violence. The UN describes three categories of non-violent action:

• protest and persuasion, including marches and vigils;
• non-cooperation; and
• non-violent intervention, such as blockades and occupations. (link)

A meaningful story about an Adventist vigil is the recent memorial service hosted by Union College in Lincoln, NE. The Lincoln Journal Star reports that

300 people of different religious backgrounds gathered for the "Interfaith Iraq Peacemaking and Memorial Service on Sunday, which was dedicated to remembrances of Yazidis who have been killed and enslaved by ISIS" (Chris Heady, 28 Sept 2014).

The article shared the context and motivation for the event:

Lincoln is home to more than 1,000 Yazidis, a group of Kurdish-speaking people who live largely in northern Iraq. Lincoln's Yazidi community is the nation’s largest, and on Sunday some of them, along with other Lincoln residents of various faiths, tried to send out a message of peace to the world. They urged everyone to look at humans as people, not as their faith or skin color.

Doug Hardt of the Union College Center for Interfaith Studies and Culture conceived of the remembrance ceremony after traveling to Iraq this summer. After seeing one million people without homes and after talking with people who had gone through hell, he said, he wanted to do something to remember those who had died.

The article concludes:

As the group of 300 or so reflected during a moment of silence, phones lit the poem on the back of a program: “Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.” (complete article)

See also the earlier article, "Union College's Iraqi memorial service aims to begin healing, reconciliation" (Lincoln Journal Star, 26 Sept 2014).

APF readers who are interested in nonviolent peacemaking in the Middle East may find the following items worth considering:

• CPT - Iraq
• Is There a Nonviolent Response to ISIS? (Flood, Huffington Post, 12 Aug 2014)
• What Can Christians Do About Iraq? (Raushenbush, Huffington Post, 8 Aug 2014)
• Fasting for the Middle East (September 11 to October 20) (Komarnicki, Evangelicals for Social Action, 9 Sept 2014)
• Jim Foley, ISIS, and What I Learned from Being Kidnapped (Gish, Red Letter Christians, 25 Aug 2014)
• ISIS vs the Way of Jesus (Medearis, Red Letter Christians, 11 Sept 2014)
• Acting Like A State: ISIS, the US, and Jesus as Lord (Wilson-Hartgrove, Red Letter Christians, 22 Sept 2014)
• ISIS and the Good Samaritan (Hunt, American Jesus, 22 Sept 2014)
• How Christians Reject Jesus: On Violence and ISIS (Ericksen, Sojourners, 24 Sept 2014)
• War Is Not the Answer (Wallis, Sojourners, 11 Sept 2014)
• more...

"Alternatives to Violence: Various SNVM Members Speak About the War on Da'esh (ISIS)" SNVM member Rasha al-Qass Yousef:

As a Syrian from a Christian background who has many years of experience with different Syrian opposition groups, I believe military intervention against ISIS will only lead to the creation of more extremism.

Before starting with a military solution, why not explore political, economic, and social solutions? Why did it take the West so long to embargo the oil produced by ISIS? Why did the West turn a blind eye to the flood of jihadists entering Syria through Turkey? Why no real pressure on Gulf countries for their official and unofficial massive support of different nefarious armed groups? Why did the “Friends of Syria” fail to provide Raqqa—the first liberated area in the country—with any support for the local community, the civil society organizations, and the emerging local council, despite all the calls to do so?"

—Rasha Qass Yousef, member of the Syrian Nonviolence Movement and the Syrian Democratic Forum, a co-founder of the Haquna Movement, a civil resistance group in the city of Raqqa that campaigned against both the Assad regime and the armed groups who seized the city, including ISIS

Posted on Facebook by the Syrian Nonviolence Movement

Published online by Dissent Magazine