Wednesday, April 30, 2003
Religious Anti-War Movement Update
U.S. religious leaders and activists who opposed the war in Iraq say while the sudden end to the war has caused a sense of confusion among the ranks of anti-war protesters about what to do next, they will continue their work, particularly in opposing what they say is an overextension of American power abroad and a potentially perilous foreign policy in the Middle East and throughout the world.
"I think the single most overarching foreign policy question for Americans in the next decade and beyond is: What kind of lone superpower are we going to be?" said Ronald Sider, executive director of Evangelicals for Social Action.
Sider called the United States the most powerful and dominant force in the world since the Roman Empire. "Do we use that power for shorter-term self-interest or do we take the lead and create a different kind of world that is genuinely free and democratic?" he asked.
Jim Wallis of the Washington-based Sojourners community said, however, that it won't be enough for U.S. faith groups to merely oppose or protest what is increasingly being called the "Bush Doctrine" in foreign policy; it will be necessary to develop concrete, specific alternatives to U.S. policy.
"Churches have to say more than `no,"' Wallis said. "Having an alternative (policy) is better."
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