The Pacifists' Predicament
Dean Snyder of Untied Methodist recently interviewed Jim Winkler of the UMC's General Board of Church and Society. Winkler, who is paid from the offering plate, has been heavily criticized by some within The United Methodist Church because of his outspoken opposition to the War in Iraq. For me, Dean's interview with Reverend Winkler raises a couple concerns:
1) How does one responsibly speak on behalf of the church? People of faith shouldn't shy from their deeply held convictions; but leaders within the church (especially in a denomination as large and diverse as The United Methodist Church) have a certain responsibility to reflect the commonly held beliefs of the people they represent. Jim Winkler, for example, strongly and sincerely opposes the war in Iraq and heads an agency that is charged to speak on behalf of the church on issues of war and peace. While one can make a strong case that the war in Iraq is incompatible with church teaching, many United Methodists would disagree. Some would even make compelling, faith-based arguments in favor of the war. Personally, I was against invading Iraq, and feel that the war was poorly planned. Still, I'm not comfortable with Reverend Winkler opposing the war on behalf of The United Methodist Church.
2) I am a pacifist; I didn't want our nation to go to war with Iraq; I still don't understand why we overthrew the evil regime in Iraq while ignoring or cooperating with terrible and corrupt governments in other countries; during the build-up to the war, I complained that the administration had not articulated a viable postwar plan; and I'm still not convinced that the administration really knows what it is doing. That said, I don't think that the United States should pull out of Iraq. We invaded a country and removed its government; I think our nation now has a responsibility to make sure that Iraq is somewhat stable before pulling our troops.
Honestly, when it comes to Iraq, I'm stuck. I hate the situation. I want our troops to come home, and I want the people of Iraq to have stability and security. I hate when governments oppress and kill their people; and I hate when armies accidentally kill thousands of forgotten civilians. I don't have any good answers; unfortunately, I don't know that Jim Winkler does either.
1) How does one responsibly speak on behalf of the church? People of faith shouldn't shy from their deeply held convictions; but leaders within the church (especially in a denomination as large and diverse as The United Methodist Church) have a certain responsibility to reflect the commonly held beliefs of the people they represent. Jim Winkler, for example, strongly and sincerely opposes the war in Iraq and heads an agency that is charged to speak on behalf of the church on issues of war and peace. While one can make a strong case that the war in Iraq is incompatible with church teaching, many United Methodists would disagree. Some would even make compelling, faith-based arguments in favor of the war. Personally, I was against invading Iraq, and feel that the war was poorly planned. Still, I'm not comfortable with Reverend Winkler opposing the war on behalf of The United Methodist Church.
2) I am a pacifist; I didn't want our nation to go to war with Iraq; I still don't understand why we overthrew the evil regime in Iraq while ignoring or cooperating with terrible and corrupt governments in other countries; during the build-up to the war, I complained that the administration had not articulated a viable postwar plan; and I'm still not convinced that the administration really knows what it is doing. That said, I don't think that the United States should pull out of Iraq. We invaded a country and removed its government; I think our nation now has a responsibility to make sure that Iraq is somewhat stable before pulling our troops.
Honestly, when it comes to Iraq, I'm stuck. I hate the situation. I want our troops to come home, and I want the people of Iraq to have stability and security. I hate when governments oppress and kill their people; and I hate when armies accidentally kill thousands of forgotten civilians. I don't have any good answers; unfortunately, I don't know that Jim Winkler does either.
posted by Tinley | 7:29 PM
1 Comments:
Well said. The UMC should not be taking a stand here, nor should Wrinkler be speaking on our behalf.
I think that the Church (UMC and others) can take one of two positions:
1. oppose all war all the time (theologically coherent)
2. silence (it's a political issue up to individual members to decide)
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