10/23/2003 News media contact: Tim Tanton · (615) 742-5470 · Nashville, Tenn.
A photograph is available with this story
By Tom Burger*
Bishop Grove and Dr. Edwin Welch, President, University of Charleston (W.V.). Photo number W03061, Accompanies UMNS#507
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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (UMNS) - The press has largely
ignored and underreported the fact that leaders of a majority of U.S.
churches oppose the continuing unilateral occupation of Iraq and the
Bush administration's pre-emptive war policy, a United Methodist bishop
has charged.
The press has given the administration "a free ride"
on its Iraq policies, said Bishop William Boyd Grove. A former
ecumenical officer for the United Methodist Council of Bishops, Grove
went to Rome earlier this year to encourage Pope John Paul II to use his
influence to avert a war on Iraq.
"The press served as a
cheerleader for the war," Grove said. "Such a role was not envisioned by
the founders of our country when they built freedom of the press into
the Constitution."
He said he was hopeful that more citizens
would begin to question U.S. intervention in Iraq. "Pre-emptive strikes
should be condemned by the American people," the bishop said. "What
would (the world) be like if every country did this?
"Why do we have a right other governments do not?" he asked.
In
making a case for last spring's U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, Bush cited
reports of dictator Saddam Hussein building an arsenal of weapons of
mass destruction.
Grove, retired and living in Charleston, noted
that a first strike does not conform to the "just war" theory that has
evolved in the Christian church over the centuries. According to this
position, war can be justified only to redress a wrong already
committed, he said.
President Bush was late admitting that no
direct link existed between Saddam Hussein and the terrorist attacks of
Sept. 11, 2001, Grove said.
"Still the administration cites Iraq as its centerpiece of the war on terrorism," he said. The
bishop said Bush handled the aftermath of Sept. 11 magnificently, but
since then has squandered the international goodwill engendered by the
tragedies that day.
He criticized the administration for its "scornful and arrogant attitude toward our European allies."
Speaking
at an Oct. 21 forum at the University of Charleston, where he is a
member of the board of trustees, Grove said the "holy war" rhetoric of
Lt. Gen. William Boykin, the Pentagon officer charged with finding
high-profile targets such as Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, fuels
the hatred Muslims have for western nations.
Bringing back the
ugly specter of the Crusades and demonizing Islam makes it easy for
extremists to recruit terrorists, the bishop said.
"The power of
Saddam Hussein was demonic," Grove said. "But it is very dangerous
spiritually and arrogant politically to assume that we as a people bear
no responsibility for what is wrong in the world. The illusion of our
own national purity leads to the very hubris which has been so
characteristic of our national leadership in this terrible time."
The
bishop agreed with writer Edward Abbey, who said, "Every patriot should
be prepared to defend his country against its government."
Said Grove: "This time in the life of our country calls for just such patriotism."
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*Burger is director of communications for the West Virginia Annual Conference.
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