An Open Letter to Jewish, Muslim, and Christian Leaders

August 9, 2006

Dear Colleagues:

As conflicts in the Middle East intensify, casualties grow, and human suffering increases I write urging us as leaders in the three Abrahamic faiths to join publicly in a call for the cessation of all violence, for an international peacekeeping force, and a negotiated agreement for a just peace. I recognize that the meaning of these phrases may differ significantly for each of us; in fact, the specific meanings may finally be contradictory. Yet I am convinced that the world needs our courageous public witness to what we hold in common rather than the growing sense that religious beliefs are being held captive in a global ideological conflict.

We share a deep and abiding concern for and commitment to the people in our religious communities whose lives are being devastated and whose futures increasingly seem at risk. We can maintain those commitments without having them become the sole defining mark of our leadership in a time of war. As religious leaders I believe we can agree that:

• Together we hold that every human being is created by God.
• Together we believe the earth is God's gift to all of us and we are called to be stewards of that gift.
• The one God whom we worship is a God not only of judgment, but of mercy and peace.
• The principles by which people of faith have traditionally assessed the just nature of war are no longer sufficient to guide our moral deliberation and decisions.

Together, let us publicly:

• Call for a global consultation of the leaders of the three Abrahamic faiths in order to develop the principles for a just peace in light of contemporary conflicts and warfare.
• Reject the growing anti Semitism, Islamophobia, and the marginalization of Arab Christianity.
• Reject violence and call for an immediate end to all hostilities.
• Reject the perception that violence can be justified on the basis of the Abrahamic religions.
• Bear witness that all people are created by God and share a unity far deeper than our divisions.
• Testify that religious faith is not to be used as an instrument of war and violence but as a living trust in the God of peace.
• Pray for a just and lasting peace.

The world daily sees how religion is used to divide and destroy. It is time for us together to publicly, clearly, and courageously give witness that the One in whom we believe unites us in our diversity rather than divides us in our hostilities.

With prayers for God’s peace,

The Rev. Mark S. Hanson
Presiding Bishop
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

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