This week the Church of the Brethren Mission and Ministry Board issued a resolution against Drone Warfare. The resolution, which will be sent on to Annual Conference this summer, urges the “President and Congress of the United States to halt the use of drones and calls on Congress to hold the President accountable for the administration’s use of drones and to institute legitimate oversight of their deployment.” The resolution states that “We will no longer tolerate secretive ‘kill lists,’ and the decision-making process in the matter of armed drones must be made public, so that the lethal actions of government may be properly understood and judged.”
The resolution goes on to call the body of the Church of the Brethren to “study this issue in relation to our Brethren history of peacemaking and our biblical understanding of peace, so that Brethren may continue to be dynamic and prophetic peacemakers in a world riddled with violent behavior. We covenant together to care for the victims of this violence, as well as those who are not recognizing the consequences of their participation in this form of violence.” You can read the resolution in its entirety here: http://www.brethren.org/news/2013/brethren-board-issues-resolution-against-drones.html
Open Table Cooperative fully supports the M&M Board’s resolution and we encourage folks to engage in our communities as “prophetic peacemakers”, speaking out against drone warfare as historic peace witnesses. We have a unique voice that can bring an important perspective to the conversation. We support the call from Mission and Ministry to study the issue in relation to our Brethren history. Here are a couple of articles from around the web that represent various perspectives that can help in our study. As you find others please add links in the comments below. This is a huge issue in our country and we have a responsibility to speak out as the prophetic peacemakers we are.
- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cenk-uygur/drone-strikes-barack-obama
- http://brokentelegraph.com/2011/10/04/the-u-s-assassination-of-a-u-s-citizen-and-the-nobility-of-asking-tough-questions
- http://www.patheos.com/Jewish/Defense-of-Drones-Yitzchok-Adlerstein-06-14-2012
- http://blog.chron.com/thepeacepastor/2012/11/drone-warfare/
Also!
There is still time to submit an application for the Open Table Summer Internship position. Applications are due April 1. For the full job description: http://www.opentablecoop.org/summer-internship/
Prayers and blessings as we enter this Holy Week.
Peace,
Elizabeth
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