Episcopal Press and News
Religious Peace Conference Held in Washington
Diocesan Press Service. April 6, 1966 [42-12]
RELIGIOUS PEACE CONFERENCE HELD IN WASHINGTON
Leaders of the first National Inter-Religious Conference on Peace were instructed to ask President Johnson to announce the readiness of the U. S. to join in a cease-fire in Vietnam beginning Good Friday. The conference was held March 15-17 in Washington and it was attended by Roman Catholics, Jews, Protestants, Episcopalians and churchmen from other groups.
The conference approved a declaration in its final plenary session which is as follows:
"The National Inter-Religious Conference on Peace, assembled in Washington, D. C., is testimony to a shared conviction that different religious traditions are mutually supportive in their efforts to help people find solutions to the issues of war and peace. This conference speaks for itself. It addresses this Declaration to organized religion everywhere as well as to the general community and our government.
The Religious and Moral Imperatives
"Foremost is our concern that much of the discussion involving our nation's posture on foreign policy and especially on the war in Viet Nam has taken place without serious probing of the religious and moral issues involved. Members of the religious community too often seem to accept the world's belief that naked power reacting to threat, real or imagined, is all that really counts in the modern world. Our religious profession, however, does obligate us to proclaim the moral and religious dimensions in all relationships between all peoples and governments. We are called to repentance, forgiveness and compassion, to faith and hope, to working for justice, to love against hate, to the task of peace-building rather than war-making. We recognize the claims of God and His covenants with men in fulfilling His purposes in history. We cannot leave to soldiers and statesmen alone the great problems of conscience being raised in these days of conflict.
The Conference General Areas of Concern
"Our discussions involved first, confronting the changing Communist world. Changes in today's world may be seen, in part, as manifestations of Divine judgment to which we of the religious communities are challenged to respond in new ways. Our task is to press for peaceful solutions of conflicts between the United States and Communist governments that will respect the legitimate national interests of all parties. We believe our unique contribution can be expressed through personal contacts and intensive dialogue across ideological lines in order to break through the barriers which now prevent us from perceiving as, and communicating with fellow human beings who live under social and political systems different from our own.
"Secondly, in discussing the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the conflict in Asia, we agreed that statements of the declared policies of the PRC, the U. S. and all other concerned parties should be carefully examined and evaluated against actual practice. Recognition of this divergence between declared and the actual policies could lead to changes that might reduce enmity between the U. S. and China. The specific changes in policy which the Conference has recommended include several unilateral initiatives that need not require agreement from the Chinese or endanger legitimate interests of the U. S. or the security of those nations and peoples who rely on the U. S.
"We explored, thirdly, the forms of intervention in terms of moral responsibilities and limitations. All acts of nations having effects on the internal affairs of other states must be scrutinized carefully against a background of moral and religious judgment. When particular acts involve military force with drastic consequences for the people of the affected nation searching questions should be raised and answered concerning the possibility of substituting for unilateral intervention, United Nations or other international action. Furthermore, the claims of human beings, whether allies, foes or neutrals, as children of God must be a major factor in any moral assessment of available policy alternatives.
A Statement On Viet Nam
"We, the members of this National Inter-Religious Conference on Peace,
"Ever mindful of the important formal statements on the war in Viet Nam which have been made separately and recently by Pope Paul, by the Synagogue Council of America, by the National Council of Churches, by the World Council of Churches, and by other official groups,
"Deeply concerned by the continuing and increasingly tragic consequences of that war,
"Keenly sensitive to the moral issues involved in this entire sad situation, and especially in the consequential taking of many lives of innocent civilians,
"Fully aware that the matter is complex and intense and solutions are not easy,
"Do request and authorize the Co-Chairmen of this Conference to ask a number of other major leaders of American religious bodies to join with them and together to seek a personal conference with the President at the White House for the purpose of respectfully urging upon the President that he:
"1. Consider respectfully an immediate halt to the bombing in Viet Nam,
"2. Announce the readiness of the U. S. to join in a cease fire of indefinite duration, beginning Good Friday, 1966, with no continuation of the buildup on either side,
"3. Pursue every possible avenue, including channels of the United Nations, that may create more favorable circumstances under which negotiations can begin,
"4. Adhere steadfastly to the principle that there cannot be a satisfactory military solution to this problem, and until a negotiated settlement is achieved, not to permit a change in the character of the conflict through military escalation,
"5. Agree to the direct representation of the National Liberation Front as well as the other concerned parties in any negotiations,
"6. Maintain a determination to promote social and economic change and progress in South Viet Nam and to provide the people of that land an opportunity at an early date to choose their own government,
"7. Continue providing reconstruction assistance and long-range economic development funds for Southeast Asia and
"8. Direct that high priority be placed in Viet Nam upon patient, persistent peace-building programs, to overcome the dehumanizing and brutalizing effect, especially upon youth, of the twenty year war.
"We do further state expressly that we have confidence that this delegation of religious leaders will make their presentation to the President with a thoughtful and understanding knowledge of the conflicting advice and pressures to which he is ever subject and of the awesome responsibility and heavy burden which he now carries in the White House. For him and all sharing his onerous responsibilities, we pledge our prayers.
"We further suggest that most Congressional leaders would welcome similar conversations and representations in which the delegates here bring to bear the thinking and moral guidance which legislators need in groping with the problems of maintaining the peace of the world.
A Proposal for Continuing Conference
"We ask the Co-Chairmen of this Conference to continue the National Inter-Religious Conference on Peace Committee and to explore the possibilities for calling a World Inter- Religious Conference on Peace in 1967, encompassing participation of all the world's religious traditions.
"We request the Synagogue Council of America, the National Council of Churches, the National Catholic Welfare Conference, and other religious bodies jointly to join us in our call for a National Conference on Religion and Peace, along the lines of the earlier National Conference on Religion and Race.
"We urge all religious, inter-religious, and community groups to intensify their work for peace. We recommend regional and local inter-religious conferences.
"We commend the findings of this Conference to the national religious organizations and to local membership of all religious bodies for study and -- hopefully -- guidance.
"We urge all to pray, with us, for clarity of mind, integrity of spirit, and a deepening inter-religious fellowship such as we have found together here that, under God, we may be guided through a night of our own making to a day when men shall know and love one another as God's children."
The co-chairmen for the meeting were Presiding Bishop Hines, Rabbi Maurice N. Eisendrath of New York; Dr. Dana M. Greeley, president of the Unitarian- Universalist Association; Methodist Bishop John Wesley Lord of Washington; Roman Catholic Bishop John J. Wright of Pittsburgh, and Archbishop Iakovos, primate of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America. Bishop Hines was unable to attend the conference but sent his greetings.