|
WAR SEEPS INTO
EVERYDAY LIFE RELIGION IN UNCERTAIN TIMES, CLERGY MAKES PRAYER THE FOCUS
Oregonian, March
22, 2003
Author: NANCY
HAUGHT - The Oregonian
"I really believe
one reason that the pope was as engaged as much as he was
-- as he still is -- is that this may become a Christian-Muslim war."
-- THE
REV. STEPHEN BOSSI, A PAULIST PRIEST AT ST. PHILIP NERI
CATHOLIC CHURCH
As the first shots
echoed through Baghdad this week, the leaders of
Portland's religious communities began choosing their words carefully,
determined that faith would not become a casualty of war.
Prayer would be the
foundation of their response in weekend services, they
said, prayer for the American president, the troops at his command, the
Iraqi
people and all those who struggle for the cause of peace.
Most ministers, from
rabbis to priests to Protestants and Evangelicals,
admitted that their congregations are divided on whether the United States
is
justified in attacks on Iraq. Some, like the Rev. Stephen Bossi, a Paulist
priest at St. Philip Neri Catholic Church, vowed to hold to their
denomination's stands against the war. Others, like Rabbi Daniel Isaak
of the
Conservative Congregation Neveh Shalom, said the time for arguing over
the war is past, that the emphasis must be on compassion for its victims.
Two Muslim leaders said they would pray for peace and the strength to
endure the tests of war.
As they worked on
sermons, homilies and peace meditations, a new poll by
The Pew Research Center found that 57 percent of religious Americans say
their pastor or minister has preached on the war with Iraq in recent weeks.
Only about one-fifth of them say their leader has taken a position on
the war,
and only about one in 10 Americans says religious faith is the strongest
influence in forming an opinion on the war. They said that media reports,
personal experience and education are higher-rated factors.
At the same time,
however, the March 13-16 survey of 1,032 Americans
found that about one-third of them said religious leaders have not spoken
out
enough on the war. Many Portland clergy said they can't imagine talking
about anything else.
News of the first
attacks on Iraq was juxtaposed, in Isaak's mind, against
images from the biblical story he'll read at Neveh Shalom this weekend.
Judges 4 and 5 tells the story of an Israelite victory over the army of
their
enemy, Sisera. The song recounting Sisera's death includes the image of
his
mother, sitting at a window.
"Why is his
chariot so long in coming?" she asks. "Why so late the clatter
of
his wheels?"
She has no idea,
Isaak says, that her son is dead. "There is no feeling of
triumphalism in this story. And this is not a time now of pro-war or antiwar
sentiments. Unfortunately, that time is past. Now the issue is that these
are
real human beings.
"Each has a
mother and a wife and children," Isaak says. "The great tragedy
of war is that we often, in order to conduct one, vilify the enemy in
such a
way that they're no longer human. . . . We have to be aware that if there
are
body bags coming back to the United States, there may be many, many more
times that number in Iraq."
As he struggled to
find the right words for his homily, Bossi said he would
continue to condemn the war, as the pope and the American Catholic
bishops have done in weeks past. But he would shift his focus, too.
"The hope is
no longer short term," he said. "The hope has to be long term,
in lessons learned." It's time now to think about how and why diplomatic
efforts failed, about the questions other nations have about the American
determination to live "in this world our own way."
"I really believe
one reason that the pope was as engaged as much as he was
-- as he still is -- is that this may become a Christian-Muslim war,"
Bossi
says. "All our efforts to reach across religious lines and look at
the
well-being of the world will be set back years. . . . It will cut across
the
entire globe and unleash all kinds of horrible things."
He will tell his
congregation not to give up the field, he says. "This is the
way things seem to be going, but we need to continue to pray. That prayer
will keep us focused on our values, and then you need to act in any way
that
you can, even if it's only marching or writing to the White House."
Pastors of Evangelical
churches said weekend services would include
prayers for wisdom for American leaders and protection for U.S. troops.
"This weekend,
we'll pray specifically for all the families connected to the
soldiers -- we have a lot of families over in the Middle East," says
Frank
Damazio, pastor of City Bible Church on Rocky Butte in Northeast Portland.
"We'll pray
for wisdom on all this, for our military leaders and those behind
closed doors, for their decision-making. We'll be praying more for Iraq,
for
the protection of innocent people and children and all the soldiers, that
all
the conflict will have some righteous resolve."
His church is divided,
too, he says. "Politically, we have a range of
opinions. . . . I just say to the church, I'm not talking to them politically.
Bush
is our president and we must pray for those in authority, not try to criticize
every decision that they make."
Unity and support
for the government will be themes when Rabbi Daniel
Rosenberg speaks to his Traditional congregation at Shaarie Torah in
Northwest Portland.
"There are people
in my congregation who would like to see us curl up and
leave things alone and continue in our life here," he says. But the
time has
come to unite behind President Bush.
"We need to
recognize that we have voted for a president and, willy-nilly,
this is the man of the hour. We need to support him as our president.
When
push comes to shove . . . we cannot stand apart. We need to stand together."
Some members of his
congregation wonder whether this war will turn out to
be good or bad for Israel, he says. No one can be sure at this point,
but he is
confident that Israel will stay out of the conflict until the United States
asks
it to step in.
Muslims, who gathered
for prayers on Friday, expected to pray for peace --
"as many prayers for safety as you can pray for in a war," says
Mamadou
Toure, an imam for the Muslim Community Center in Northeast Portland.
"Only God can
get us through this," he says. "It's all about helping a human
being reach a level of spiritual awakening, to understand that we were
created as God's vice regents in this world and that his will is reflected
in
peace and good will toward all men."
He encourages prayers
for American soldiers, that God grants "a level of
comfort to their families."
Shahriar Ahmed, president
of the Bilal Mosque Association in Beaverton,
says individuals from the community take turns leading prayers there and
that peace is a recurring theme.
"These are difficult
times for Muslims," he says. "This is a time to stay
steadfast in faith, to remember that everything comes from God, as a test,
and God willing, we will get through this. We pray for peace and pray
for
the safety of everyone involved, and that includes Iraqi men, women and
children."
The Rev. LeRoy Haynes
Jr., pastor of Allen Temple Christian Methodist
Episcopal Church, said the overwhelming majority of his Northeast Portland
congregation says Americans should be focused on issues in the nation
--
economic issues, education, poverty, "rather than being at war."
He expects to preach
on Jesus' prayer in John 17:14-15: "I have given them
your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to
the
world, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking you to take
them
out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one."
Haynes says, "Believers
are called to work on the mission of Christ's
church, even in the midst of conflict and terrorist threats and economic
decline, with the assurance that Christ is working with us and he will
be our
shield."
The Rev. David A.
Knapp, senior pastor of St. Luke Lutheran Church in
Southwest Portland, says he'll speak on the struggle for peace. "I
mean that
very intently," he says. "I don't think you deal with peace
passively. It is a
struggle.
"I recognize
in myself the violence that I might want concerning someone
like Saddam Hussein," he says, "and what the Scripture tells
me, to be a
peacemaker -- to connect those two things. I believe it is the struggle
that my
1,300 members are going through now."
Nancy Haught: 503-294-7625; nancyhaught@news.oregonian.com
Copyright (c) 2003
Oregonian Publishing Co.
|
