The Revolt of Christianity

"As Christians we are called to be peacemakers, and to initiate war only as a last resort. We believe your administration has launched an unjust and unjustified war in Iraq."

"We pledge fidelity to Jesus Christ, offering our hearts and lives to do God's work in God's world."

"While recognizing God as sovereign over individuals and institutions alike, we understand that no single political position should be identified with God's will."

"As Christians we are called to actions characterized by love, gentleness and concerns for the most vulnerable among us. We believe your administration has fostered intolerance and divisiveness and has often failed to listen to those with whom it disagrees." -- An open letter to President George W. Bush from concerned faculty, staff and emeriti of Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Imagine the grief in God's heart at the deliberate attempts, sanctioned at the highest levels of the Bush administration, as demonstrated by documents released to the ACLU, to break Moslem's relationship with the God of us all. Women deliberately attempted to "defile" men so that they would be unable to pray. What does it mean when Christians are silent in the face of attempts to destroy a man's relationship with God so that he might reveal "terrorist" secrets? When we try to break a man's relation with God in order to weaken him and make him more maleable, we commit one of the gravest spiritual evils and weaken our own relationship, perhaps irreparably.

Can we still hear the words of Vatican II? "The Church regards with esteem also the Moslems. They adore the one God, living and subsisting in Himself, merciful and all-powerful, the Creator of heaven and earth (5), who has spoken to men; they take pains to submit wholeheartedly to even His inscrutable decrees, just as Abraham, with whom the faith of Islam takes great pleasure in linking itself, submitted to God. Though they do not acknowledge Jesus as God, they revere Him as a prophet. They also honor Mary, His virgin mother; at times they even call on her with devotion. In addition, they await the day of judgement when God will render their deserts to all those who have been raised up from the dead. Finally, they value the moral life and worship God especially through prayer, almsgiving and fasting." - Nostra Aetate, 3.

Those who are defiled are our brothers in Christ. Let us pray that they will be protected from those who attempt so foolishly to break their relationship with God. And let us not only pray, but speak out. Every Christian has the unbreakable obligation to raise their voice against torture and the blasphemy against the human soul that is so embodied. To do less is to fail in our duty to our brother. Join the revolt of truth!