Earth Justice Ministries

      Over time US policy toward Iraq has brought unspeakable harm to its people through bombing, sanctions, destruction of its infrastructure, contamination with depleted uranium, and the ongoing violence of military action, insurrection, and terror. To date there is no exit strategy or clear plan for “victory.” The bloodshed continues. Tens of thousands of Iraqis have died. Over three thousand U.S. troops have died and over 22,000 have been injured. Over $8.8 billion of U.S. taxpayers’ money is unaccounted for. By any measure, the U.S. war against Iraq has been a failure. By any measure, that is, except corporate profits and the goal of extending the system of corporate globalization.

      Under current accounting methods, war is good for the economy. The U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is boosted by the profits of U.S. arms manufacturers such as Lockheed Martin. The United States is by far the largest arms exporter in the world. U.S. corporations sell weapons, including advanced military weaponry, subsidized by the U.S. government, on the open market to countries around the world. The region that buys the most U.S. weapons is the Middle East. The revenues of U.S. arms dealers from foreign military sales in 2006 was $21 billion, nearly double that of 2005. 

      The newly-elected Democratic majority Congress has begun debating whether to withdraw US troops or expand troop levels in Iraq, but to date there is no exit plan or clear plan for “victory.” The building of permanent military bases in Iraq continues. And while Pentagon officials say that the US military is already overstretched, the Bush Administration continues to threaten military action against Iran.

      Meanwhile, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists has moved the time on its “Doomsday Clock” closer to midnight. The clock now stands at five minutes to midnight, symbolizing the perils facing the human race. The scientists are concerned about a “Second Nuclear Age” that brings grave risks, including 1) the continuing “launch on warning” status of 2,000 of the US and Russia’s 25,000 nuclear weapons, 2) unsecured nuclear materials in Russia and elsewhere, 3) Iran and North Korea’s “nuclear ambitions,” 4) escalating terrorism, and 5) climate change, which is creating new pressures for civilian nuclear power that could lead to increasing nuclear proliferation.

      In the midst of such dangers, why is the US, the only remaining superpower, not leading a major diplomatic effort towards disarmament, peacemaking, and sustainable development in the Middle East, in the former Soviet Union, and around the world? Would this not create a far more secure world? Why are our nuclear weapons still on high alert? Why are we not helping Russia to secure its nuclear material? Why, in an age when terrorists could smuggle nuclear weapons (or simply knives) in a suitcase, are we trying to build an elaborate nuclear shield to prevent an unlikely attack by a “rogue nation?” Why do we continue to develop ever more accurate and useable first strike nuclear weapons? Why are we using every available technology to create obscenely imaginative weapons of mass destruction, and why are we opposing treaties that limit such technologies? 

      The only way this makes sense is in the overall scheme of corporate globalization. The US military is the primary enforcer of the emerging global economic system. This military wing of corporate globalization reveals the true nature of the Powers at work in our world today. 

(Excerpted from Shaking the Gates of Hell: Faith-Led Resistance to Corporate Globalization, by Sharon Delgado)

What Individuals and Families Can Do

What Faith Groups Can Do

COs and GI Rights

Faith groups can join major demonstrations, bringing symbols of faith or signs (for instance, “Blessed are the Peacemakers”) that signal a spiritual motivation for action. We can organize a public witness for peace at a weapons lab, military base, or weapons manufacturer that may include nonviolent direct action. Nonviolence

Stand Against Torture

Links-Faith-Based Peacemaking

http://www.peacehost.net/EPI-Calc/

Religious Statement

http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=2837

Christian Peacemaker Teams

http://www.cpt.org/

Christian Peacemaking--Articles

http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/content/cpt/cpt.shtml

Peacemaker Ministries

http://www.peacemaker.net/site/c.aqKFLTOBIpH/b.958123/k.CB70/Home.htm

Religion and Peacemaking (U.S. Institute of Peace)

http://www.usip.org/religionpeace/index.html

Resources from the National Council of Churches

http://www.ncccusa.org/unity/peacemaking.html

Washington Seminar

http://www.washingtonseminarcenter.org/peacemaking.htm

Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice

http://www.icpj.net/page/2/

Reformed Church of A

http://www.rca.org/NETCOMMUNITY/Page.aspx?&pid=2205&srcid=2216

World Conference of Religion and Peace

http://www.wcrp.org/

Orthodox Peace Fellowship

http://www.incommunion.org/articles/essays/traditional-christian-peacemaking

Islam and Peace

http://www.nonviolenceinternational.net/islambib_001.htm

Jewish Peace Fellowship

http://www.jewishpeacefellowship.org/

United Methodist Statement

http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?mid=1834

Methodists United for Peace with Justice

http://www.mupwj.org/whoweare.htm

Presbyterian Peacemaking Program

http://www.pcusa.org/peacemaking/iraq/

Episcopal Peace Fellowship

http://www.epfnational.org/publish/index.shtml

United Church of Christ

http://www.ucc.org/justice/index.html

Catholic Peace Fellowship

http://www.catholicpeacefellowship.org/index.asp

Pax Christi USA

http://www.paxchristiusa.org/

Peace Action/ War Resistance

http://www.iraqbodycount.org/

Peace Action

http://www.peace-action.org/

Voices in the Wilderness

http://vcnv.org/

Not In Our Name

http://www.notinourname.net/index.php

Code Pink

http://www.codepink4peace.org/

United for Peace

http://www.unitedforpeace.org/index.php

War Resisters League

http://www.warresisters.org/

Voters for Peace

http://www.votersforpeace.us/

Nonviolent Peace Force

http://nvpf.org/np/english/welcome.asp.html

Peace Protests-Calendar

http://pax.protest.net/

Directory of Peace and Nonviolence Links

http://dir.yahoo.com/Society_and_Culture/Issues_and_Causes/Peace_and_Nonviolence/Organizations/

Global Network Against War and Nuclear Power in Space

http://www.space4peace.org/

Abolition 2000

http://www.abolition2000.org/site/c.cdJIKKNpFqG/b.1315003/k.BCFA/Home.htm

Nevada Desert Experience

http://www.nevadadesertexperience.org/

Tri Valley CARES

http://www.trivalleycares.org/

Nuclear Age Peace Foundation

http://www.wagingpeace.org/

Traprock Peace Center

http://www.traprockpeace.org/

The Widows of War Living Memorial (various views)

http://www.warwidows.org

Links- War Tax Resistance

http://www.nowartax.org/

War Tax Resistance Made Simple (article)

http://www.alternet.org/story/15593/