Peace Church Resolution
Preamble
The Legacy of First Presbyterian Church of Palo Alto
The legacy of First Presbyterian Church reveals a long and courageous
commitment to social justice and personal discipleship as we seek to follow the life
and ministry of Jesus. From the "Freedom Rides" in the South to becoming a
"More Light" church in the 80s, from working for the Opportunity Center to Hotel
de Zink for the unhoused, from Gay Pride Parades to marching against the war in
Iraq and leading a national effort to respond to climate change, to name just a few
examples, First Presbyterian has been committed not just to the gospel of peace,
reconciliation and social justice, but to discipleship, Bible study and prayer.
A distinctive part of the legacy of First Presbyterian Church has been a consistent
skepticism and resistance to our national wars of intervention around the world.
From the Vietnam War to Panama, Grenada, the first Gulf War, and even Iraq and
Afghanistan, while we have not all agreed that every war has been wrong, we
continue to have a healthy skepticism that war can bring justice and peace to the
world. In fact, there are anecdotal reports that soldiers, seeking to declare
themselves conscientious objectors, have sought out our community for support.
More recently, the church has established a program to support our young people
and others outside our community who wish to register as conscientious objectors.
We do this by providing curriculum and materials about conscientious objection
and by providing a place where they can file copies of documents to support their
claim to being conscientious objectors. This effort is supported not only by many
members of our community but has been approved and supported by the session
and pastor of our church.
I believe that all human life, innocent or guilty, is precious, no matter whether the
law deems someone “worthy of death” or not. I know that no matter how many
times a person has broken the law, caused terror, or even killed other humans, my
personal standards prohibit me from taking direct part in ending another person’s
life. From the Statement of Conscientious Objection by Chris Iyer
Then in the fall of 2012, in concert with the urging of the General Assembly for a
period of "Peace Discernment," we held several adult study sessions to discuss and
explore the history of the early church's rejection of war and how the church then
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adopted "Just War" guidelines to support Christians participating in war. The
results of this discernment process within our congregation has led to this
resolution to formally declare ourselves a “Peace Church,” indeed, to make explicit
what has been implicit for many years. It is important to note that there was not
universal agreement among those who participated in this peace discernment
process. However, it is equally important to note that the gospel of peace and
reconciliation of Jesus Christ is a high bar for everyone; it is not so much a bar that
we choose to accept but a bar that we cannot deny exists in the New Testament
witness of Jesus, the history of the early church and the ongoing witness of the
Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), Church of the Bretheren and others.
Consequently, nothing in this resolution shall be construed as compulsory, rather
this resolution is intended to encourage careful and prayerful study, reflection and
discernment.
This resolution is not intended to be the last word but is the beginning of a
conversation that we hope and pray will challenge each of us and our community
to think seriously about the cost of violence, terror and war. By adopting this
resolution, we are throwing down a marker that not only helps us to identify who
we are and want to be, but also who we refuse to be. Rather than being passive
recipients or consumers of our culture, we are resisting, pushing back and starting a
much needed conversation. We are choosing to embrace Jesus’ vision of peace
with justice, a vision that he has bequeathed to all humankind.
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1 Proposed Resolution
First Presbyterian Church of Palo Alto, after careful consideration of the scriptures,
our long faith tradition and commitment to social justice as well as our
commitment to the love and teachings of Jesus, does hereby affirm our
commitment to the cause of peace by rejecting war and violence in all its forms
and declares itself a "Peace Church."
A Peace Church is defined as a church embracing nonviolence as the fundamental
response to the challenges of violence, terror and war. It is an expressed
commitment to nonviolence as a solution to international conflicts and a statement
of full support for anyone electing to be a conscientious objector to military
service.
We affirm and encourage all our members and friends to prayerfully read, study
and consider this resolution so that we, as the scriptures say, may "not be
conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of [our] minds, so
that [we] may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and
perfect." (Rom 12:2) We encourage all our members and friends to discern how
God may be speaking to them and to follow their own conscience because we
know that "God alone is Lord of the conscience." (Book of Confessions 6.109)
Some of the specific ways that we will seek to embody this commitment to be a
Peace Church include:
 As a Peace Church we welcome all people, including those who are serving
or have served in the military, and invite everyone to walk with us as we
explore together the practice and meaning of peace in the world and in our
lives.
 We will be intentional about incorporating nonviolence history and practice,
and the history of conscientious objection, into educational curricula and
programs for all ages.
 Our church leaders will incorporate subjects related to our role and
responsibility as a Peace Church in worship and other opportunities for our
community to engage in conversations, learning and spiritual renewal.
 Just as we describe ourselves as a More Light Congregation, we will explain
what it means to be a Peace Church in promotional materials, on our
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website, and in other public communications, including stewardship
materials.
 We will be intentional about educating and informing ourselves about the
growing militarism of our country’s policies and culture that often
exacerbate tensions and violence.
2 Rationale
There are many reasons why we believe that God is calling us to declare ourselves
a "Peace Church." Some of these are historical, others are practical and still others
are biblical and theological. While the following does not begin to be a complete
list, we offer these as a starting point for the conversation we think we should and
must have about violence, terror and war. By affirming this resolution, we do also
affirm the following:
2.1 Jesus has called us to a life of love that extends to our enemies as in Matthew
5: 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your
enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute
you, 45 so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun
rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the
unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do
not even the tax collectors do the same?”
2.2 Jesus has also shown us the way to resist violence and oppression, again in
Matthew 5, 38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a
tooth.’ 39 But I say to you, do not resist an evildoer [with violence].i But if anyone
strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; 40 and if anyone wants to sue you
and take your coat, give your cloak as well; 41 and if anyone forces you to go one
mile, go also the second mile.”
2.3 And again, in the Epistle of I John 4 we read, “7 Beloved, let us love one
another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows
God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.” Indeed, it
appears that love for one another was the defining attribute of the early church that
distinguished them from all other competing claims of divine providence. The
question that begs to be answered is whether there can be any compatibility
between war and loving one another. The early church decided these were
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incompatible.
2.4 It is well-documented by many scholars and most recently in the "Peace
Discernment" Interim Report of 2012 that the early church was committed to
pacifism for the first 300 years. In the words of the Interim Report: "The history of
Christian responses to violence tells a compelling story of the initial embrace of the
nonviolent witness of Jesus. Early Christians in Rome refused to engage in any
violence because they trusted that their love for fellow citizens would point people
to the new day dawning in Jesus Christ (Justin Martyr, First Apology, 14.3;
Origen, Against Celsus, 8.68, 75; Arnobius, Against the Nations, 1.6). The first
Christians lived according to a nonviolent code, with frequent martyrdom."
Furthermore, there are no affirmations of killing or war in any of the writings of
the early church. In fact, those who participated in war could be refused admission
to the Eucharist. It was not until Emperor Constantine became a patron of the
church that this commitment to nonviolence began to change. So dramatic was that
change that in 303 CE Christians were forbidden from serving in the military but
by 416 CE, only Christians could serve in the military.
2.5 We recognize that Jesus was himself the victim of war, terror, domination,
oppression and empire. Jesus lived and died under Roman occupation and his
ministry was, at least in part, calling attention to injustice and oppression. He was
arrested and tortured and executed for sedition by the state because he dared to
nonviolently resist oppression and injustice.
2.6 We affirm this resolution as a sign of our repentance for the war and violence
perpetrated in the name of Christianity, militarism or nationalism. The Crusades,
done in the name of the church, sparked murder and destruction throughout Europe
and the Middle East. While we may take comfort that they happened far, far away
and a long time ago, the Holocaust and many other examples of church sanctioned
war is evidence that the church has often aided and abetted war and violence
throughout history.
2.7 We affirm this resolution in recognition that too often have we idolized
nationalism over what Jesus called the "Kingdom of God" and Martin Luther King,
Jr. called the "beloved community." Too often have we followed after the false
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gods of manifest destiny, jingoism and interventionism that have led to the
genocide of indigenous peoples, the tolerance of slavery, wars of aggression and
the killing of innocent civilians.
2.8 We affirm this resolution in support of our youth, members and friends who
have decided to register as conscientious objectors with the Selective Service
Administration through our Conscientious Objector Support Program. While
documenting one's beliefs is an important step, it is also important for our church
to support them by declaring our community a "Peace Church."
2.9 Not only is this a corporate commitment but we also resolve to commit
ourselves to the pursuit of justice, love and nonviolence in our personal and civic
lives. We also resolve to incorporate a commitment to the love and nonviolence of
Jesus in our sacraments and worship so that we may help to spread the Gospel of
Peace to all the world.
2.10 We affirm this resolution in recognition that we can no longer accept that
“Just War” is possible. Since the 4th century, the church has used “Just-War
Theory” to rationalize the use of violence. With the protection of Emperor
Constantine, the church rationalized that it had a duty to protect the empire and its
new-found position of privilege from invasion. The reality is that our
rationalizations almost always follow our allegiance to the flag. Most of the
Christians of Germany saw no contradiction between their faith and support for the
Third Reich. Likewise for the British, Argentina, Russia and most other Christians
around the world. The same could be said of the Christians of our country who
have rarely spoken out against our numerous wars and interventions around the
world. It is not just a matter of rejecting the injustice of empire, but that we are
infected with the privilege and injustice that empire spawns.
Just-War theory has seven criteria that must be met before going to war and at least
three criteria for conduct during war; in order for a war to be considered “just,” all
of these criteria must be met. While many of the criteria could be problematic, the
requirement to distinguish between combatants and civilians and provide
protection for the latter is virtually impossible in modern warfare. As the recent
conflict in Gaza reveals, the majority of casualties are noncombatants. The US
invasion of Iraq has also resulted in more than 90% of the casualties being
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noncombatant civilians. This is a reality that we cannot deny. Additionally, when
we consider the “collateral damage” inflicted by war in the form of hunger,
starvation, damage to the environment, rape and violence toward women and
children, destruction of infrastructure, etc., it becomes clear that the concept of a
“just war” is an oxymoron.
2.11 By rejecting war and violence, we are siding with every victim of violence,
every victim of lynching, every unarmed black man shot by authorities, every
victim of domestic violence, every war refugee fleeing for their life, every victim
of "collateral damage" or mistaken identity. We believe that those who suffer the
most from violence and war are women and children, the poor and those who
cannot defend themselves or get out of the way. We are taking the side of those
who know that the exercise of war is tainted with racism and xenophobia. We are
seeking to live out the scripture when the Apostle Paul says, "For he is our peace;
in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing
wall, that is, the hostility between us." (Eph 2:14)
2.12 By rejecting war and violence, we are not only speaking out on behalf of the
victims of war, but also on behalf of those who fight our wars, whether by choice
or recruitment or by a need to escape poverty. In so doing, we acknowledge that
war can devastate the lives of soldiers in body and soul. The fact that 12% of
homeless adults are veterans and more than a million others are at risk of becoming
homeless due to poverty and other factors is intolerable.ii And even more troubling
is that the suicide rate for veterans is much higher than the general population at
more than 22 suicides per day.iii Many veterans have experienced what the
psychiatric community is now calling a “moral injury,” when soldiers know they
have violated their own moral code. We know too that war and violence spawn
torture, abuse and actions that would otherwise be criminally prosecuted. We must
acknowledge that too often it is politicians who have little or no experience in war
who vote ever so quickly to send our country’s sons and daughters into harms way.
We must not be silent to this outrage and the injury it causes to our sons and
daughters, our neighbors and communities.
2.13 By rejecting war and violence, we are reclaiming one of the most distinctive
and radical elements of our faith tradition. Just as it distinguished the Christians of
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the early church as belonging to a unique community, so now should we reclaim
this distinction for ourselves, for our church in this time. We are rejecting what
Walter Wink calls the "myth of redemptive violence" as a lie that deceives us into
thinking that violence and war will make us safer or solve the world's problems.
Rather, we refuse to accept the cultural impulse that violence is inevitable and
redemptive rather than harmful and destructive to people and creation. Too often
has the church been seen as supporting our nation’s wars and interventions and it is
time for us to reject that role and refuse to support the evil that results from it. In so
doing, we hope and pray that we will provide a beacon of hope to all those who
pray, work and long for the "Beloved Community" where justice and peace prevail.
2.14 We recognize that not only does war directly kill and maim thousands, it also
indirectly spawns poverty, disease, inequality, fear, racism and injustice. As
resources are made available for war and the never ending development of
weapons of destruction, these resources are taken away from our schools and
communities, from healthcare and much needed infrastructure. As a nation, we
spend more on our defense than all the rest of the world combined. And every
unnecessary dollar spent on our military, is money unavailable to lift our people
out of poverty, house those who are homeless and put food on the tables of the 50
million citizens of our country who are food insecure. As President Dwight
Eisenhower said, “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket
fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed,
those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money
alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes
of its children.”iv
2.15 And finally, we affirm this resolution with fear and trembling before God.
We do so because we acknowledge that Jesus calls us to love our enemies, to act
with nonviolence and to do justice and that this is a high calling indeed.
Furthermore, we acknowledge that on our own we are insufficient to this task
without the help of God and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We do not presume to
know the mind of God or to declare this resolution “right” or other views “wrong;”
we are simply seeking to be faithful to the scriptures and to the witness of our faith
tradition through the ages. May God grant us the strength and grace to fulfill this
calling.
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i
Walter Wink, The Powers that Be, Galilee Doubleday,(New York, 1999), pp. 99-101. Wink explains that the
correct translation of the Greek word antistenai should be “resist violently” or “armed insurrection;” thus rather than
forbidding any “resistance,” the passage tells us not to resist with violence.
ii
http://nchv.org/index.php/news/media/background_and_statistics/
iii
http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/21/us/22-veteran-suicides-a-day/ This statistic is consider much too low as the data
omitted information from California and Texas, states with very large veteran populations.
iv
http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/speeches/ike_chance_for_peace.html
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