Introduction
The Abrahamic Faiths Peacemaking Initiative (AFPI) is a group of clergy and religious activists who are united in our faith in the God of love and justice and mercy for all; we advocate peacemaking as an essential and defining mandate of our three faith traditions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Peacemaking is not merely one option for us; the core morals and teachings of our three religions demand an unwavering commitment to peace. By bringing together a collection of each faith’s relevant teachings, we aim to contribute an authentic and substantive religious voice to the current peace movement, to activate Americans of faith to insist on peaceful solutions to local, national and global conflicts, and in particular to end the war and U.S. occupation in Iraq.
In spite of the tragic recurrence of war and conflict, we stand together to affirm that every person is sacred and precious to God. Although the traditions and texts of each Abrahamic faith at times allow for violence and war, peacemaking is so basic to our three faiths that justification of wanton destruction in the name of war is, we hold, a perversion of God’s will and plan for humanity. Our purpose in this document is to illustrate clearly and faithfully that peacemaking is a core principle of each Abrahamic religion, that true peace is never achieved through domination, that even feelings of animosity do not justify violence, and that overly literal or misinterpreted readings of sacred texts and ancient events can lead to catastrophic consequences, especially in the 21st century. The misuse of spiritual concepts to justify modern warfare is poisonous religious ideology, and it has led us astray from the path of peace, justice and the recognition of the sacred in the other. War in a nuclear age is simply not a moral option; nothing less than the survival of the planet and all its inhabitants is at stake.
Genesis of AFPI
This project originated in Los Angeles because of the deep trust and friendship built up here among senior leaders from the three Abrahamic traditions who have been active together in the peace movement for several decades. Since the era of anti-Vietnam War rallies, relationships and trust have been built in the local interfaith community.
As a counterpoint to the perception that each faith broadly condones or tolerates warfare, these same religious leaders sought to excavate the increasingly ignored theological roots for peacemaking from the sacred texts of each Abrahamic tradition. Beginning in 2006, they organized a series of meetings in which active laypeople, clergy and religious educators came together to discuss the obligation for peacemaking, conversing both within their own faith traditions and across faith lines. An important aspect of the work has been self-examination – a willingness to confront troubling texts and principles in support of war and push to the surface the robust theological support for peace in each faith tradition. Dedicated Muslims, Jews and Christians continue to gather, to wrestle with their own traditions, and to share with one another their struggles and revelations. One result is this evolving text, which reflects an ongoing conversation.
The Imperative of Interfaith Peacemaking
Daily the world suffers from a spiritual isolationism that obscures our understanding of each other. A corrosive suspicion is present in many places where Abrahamic faith communities live side by side. Particularly since 9/11, the manipulation and manufacture of fear in many parts of North America, Europe and the Middle East are palpable. The passions generated by war and propaganda silence our precious religious language about justice, peace and love.
There can be no peace without loving respect for those who believe differently than ourselves. Similarly, none of us can enjoy peace in our own religions, or peace among religions, or peace among nations if the peace we seek is in our own image alone. There can be no peace on earth if it is only a Christian peace; there can be no complete peace if it is only a Jewish peace.; there can be no just and merciful peace if it is only a Muslim peace. The only peace possible is a peace that we all construct by making respectful space for each of us to contribute the best of our differing journeys; the only peace possible is a peace that insists on human dignity for every person and that serves as “the supreme unifying principle of life.” (M.L. King, Jr.)
Why Now?
There are many obvious examples of religion’s hand in warmaking, ethnic cleansing and genocide throughout the centuries and today. Religious justifications often underpin violence, standing alongside the claims of national leaders that their behavior is rational and required for national security. And although Christians, Jews and Muslims all claim that their religions are religions of peace, each has adherents who endorse and even encourage violence and wars.
The consequences of the United States’ misguided and unjust war in Iraq are devastating: 1.2 million Iraqis dead and tens of thousands wounded, half of whom are children; 4 million Iraqi refugees; a lack of basic services and security for law-abiding Iraqi families who remain in their war-torn country; the gross inhumanity of Abu Ghraib; and on the American side, 4,100 American soldiers dead with 45,000 wounded – and counting, as well as a rash of suicides among returning U.S. veterans. The physical destruction of Iraq and the suffering of millions are staggering.
Equally disturbing are the disease of spirit and the erosion of conscience in our own land. Americans have largely become morally inured to the destruction of the Iraq war, and our concern for loss of life, human dignity, and property can no longer be taken for granted. The war in Iraq is both a palpable tragedy in and of itself and a powerful example of how U.S. citizens have allowed an institutionalized predilection for violence and profit to lead our nation wildly astray. While death and destruction continue, national leaders argue that an expansion of the war is really a way to hasten its end. National leaders argue that the erosion of our cherished civil liberties is necessary for our own protection. National leaders even claim that God has ordained our military misadventure in Iraq.
To counter this widespread misinterpretation of God’s message, we assert that peacemaking – as a concept and an action — is absolutely central to Islam, Judaism and Christianity. We make this assertion as an interfaith group, respecting our differences of belief while working together to challenge the view that the Iraq war is necessary.