| President of UM Bishops counsels Bush to avoid preemptive strike By Stephen Drachler United Methodist Communications  In a pastoral letter to 8.4 million United Methodists in the United States, including President Bush and Vice President Cheney, the president of the United Methodist Council of Bishops said the United States should act with restraint in dealing with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. A preemptive war by the United States against a nation like Iraq goes against the very grain of our understanding of the Gospel, wrote Bishop Sharon A. Brown Christopher of Springfield, Ill., urging the president to rethink his war strategy. (See full text at right.) Preemptive strike does not reflect restraint and does not allow for the adequate pursuit of peaceful means for resolving conflict. To be silent in the face of such a prospect is not an option for the followers of Christ, she wrote. Christopher wrote there is no question Hussein is in gross violation of numerous United Nations resolutions, and commended the president for calling the international body to accountability to enforce them. She urged him to use peaceful means to settle the crisis. In asking United Methodists to join in prayer for fellow United Methodists Bush and Cheney, Christopher wrote, Jesus rejects the violent response to evil [and] moves the standard even higher by urging us to love our enemies. After consulting with the councils officers, Christopher distributed the letter to the 68 United Methodist bishops around the world Friday night, urging that it be read or distributed during Sundays worship services. Christopher quoted positions taken by the General Conference declaring, War is incompatible with the teachings and example of Christ. We therefore reject war as a usual instrument of national policy and insist that the first moral duty of all nations is to resolve by peaceful means every dispute that arises between or among them. Christopher urged United Methodists to follow up their prayers with phone calls and letters to the leaders of nations letting them know of your deep concern. The letter also has been sent to members of the U.S. Congress. United Methodists around the world have been voicing objections to Bushs call for a pre-emptive strike that would launch a war with Iraq, although no one is claiming universal agreement among the denominations 9.7 million members. Bishop Felton Edwin May of the Washington Area sent a letter to U.S. senators who are United Methodist urging them to help shape a national policy that is committed to exploring every opportunity for peacemaking. At Wesley Theological Seminary, the Rev. Shaun Casey, gathered signatures from 100 Christian ethicists. The one-sentence declaration said they share a common moral presumption against a pre-emptive war on Iraq by the United States. | 
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