Brethren represented at 'Beyond Iraq: Building the Beloved Community.'

On the 37th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., his words echoed once again through the sanctuary of Riverside Church in New York City: "A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death."

On April 4, voices once again offered similar challenges, echoing the need for a spoken truth for peace in the face of yet another war. James Forbes and the Riverside Church hosted the event "Beyond Iraq: Building the Beloved Community," in cooperation with over 60 sponsoring organizations. Phil Jones, director of the General Board's Brethren Witness/Washington Office, represented the Church of the Brethren in a procession into the sanctuary carrying a banner that read, "Church of the Brethren, A Living Peace Church."

Speakers for the evening worship included a Jewish rabbi, a Muslim imam, Christian ministers, and others. Jane Campbell, mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, spoke of the disparity and inequity of military recruitment that preys on minorities and those in economic difficulty. Jesse Jackson reflected on the work of King and admonished worship participants to consider "who we are, and whose we are." Jackson went on to remind the audience that, "As God's creatures of conscience, the sin of silence is abhorrent."

Celeste Zappala and Cindy Sheehan, mothers of soldiers who lost their lives in the Iraq war, also spoke. Sheehan spoke with passion against the violence of the war that had brought death to her son, one year ago on the same date. She called for America to consider its place in the world, and for its leaders to acknowledge the lies and deceptions that brought it into the war. "Not only do I weep," Sheehan said, "but in Iraq the great wail of mothers reverberates across a broken country."

Zappala reported that her son had the tragic honor of being the first National Guard member from Pennsylvania to die in military battle since 1945. "He should not have been there, there was no reason for this war to happen," she said.

Source: 04/27/2005 Newsline
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