Resolution Against Drone Warfare is adopted.

Photo by Regina Holmes

Nathan Hosler of the Office of Public Witness presents the Resolution Against Drone Warfare to the 2013 Annual Conference.

The 2013 Annual Conference has adopted a Resolution Against Drone Warfare. Developed by the Office of Public Witness, the document was passed on to the Conference by the Mission and Ministry Board, which had adopted the resolution at a meeting earlier this year.

The resolution is thought to be the first statement against military drones by an American church body. It addresses the use of drones in warfare in the context of a reaffirmation of the longstanding assertion by the Church of the Brethren that “war is sin.”

Citing scripture and Annual Conference statements, it states in part, “We are troubled by the quickly expanding use of armed unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones. These drones are being used for surveillance and remote killing of people. In our opposition to all types of war, the Church of the Brethren has spoken out specifically against covert warfare.... Drone warfare embodies the fundamental problems that covert warfare entails.”

The resolution includes calls for action directed to the church and its members, and to the President and Congress.

After the delegate body approved the resolution, copies of a recent issue of “Sojourners” magazine were distributed that include an advertisement about the Mission and Ministry Board’s action on the resolution.

Read the full text of the resolution at www.brethren.org/ac/documents/2013-nb4-drone-warfare.pdf .

Source: 7/4/2013 Newsline