"ECUMENICAL IMPERATIVE OF ADVOCACY FOR PEACE WITH JUSTICE" Ecumenical Advocacy Days for Global Peace with Justice Keynote Speech by Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia General Secretary World Council of Churches Washington, D.C. 5 March 2004 Introduction I bring you warm greetings from the World Council of Churches. I have been looking forward to participating in these Ecumenical Advocacy Days for a long time and it is good to be with you as you begin your work. I am moved by the theme text you have selected from Ezekiel 34, and therefore mindful of both the grace and gravity inherent in this gathering that calls us not only to work together to “….seek the lost, bring back the strayed, bind up the injured and strengthen the weak….” but also to speak truth to power (“I will feed them in justice.”) I would like to talk with you this evening about the particular gifts that churches bring to advocacy. As you know, there are many organizations that do advocacy well. Human rights and peace groups are often better informed than we are. Sometimes they are more sophisticated in their analysis. Often they have more resources and move more quickly than churches. As churches, we work closely and we value our collaboration with civil rights groups, human rights organizations, peace movements, NGOs and other civil society actors. We recognize that we must work together in alliances and coalitions. This is not just a political strategy for us, but part of our self-understanding as Christians committed to working in society. But I would like this evening to talk about the special gifts we bring, as churches, to public witness. In particular, I’d like to speak about our need for spiritual discernment and about our role as members of a global ecumenical family. Through our faith, we have the gift of spirituality and the gift of belonging to a global fellowship of churches; both of these gifts can and should inform our advocacy. Spiritual Discernment Spiritual discernment, or the quest for spiritual discernment, must be at the center of our advocacy. This is most obviously what sets us apart from our allies in the political/social/economic struggle. But while we often call for prayer, sometimes our own prayer life gets lost in the day-to-day work. Sometimes we spend much less time on our own spiritual development than we spend laboring over the details of an advocacy brief. This is understandable as the pressures of the daily work sometimes seem overwhelming. But I want to suggest that spiritual discernment is the key to our advocacy. It must be the basis for our words and our actions. Think for a minute about Martin Luther King Jr. – what a contribution to world peace this American made. His influence lives on in many, many countries. His witness is one of the most dramatic and influential gifts the United States has given to the world, and especially to the oppressed of this world. His advocacy, his witness, and his life were grounded in his religious beliefs. Can you imagine Martin Luther King Jr’s work without his religion? “As you press on for justice,” King wrote, “…be sure to move with dignity and discipline, using only the weapon of love. Let no man pull you so low as to hate him.” His spirituality grounded his methodology! This grounding in spirituality is not limited to Christians. I think of Mahatma Gandhi and his grounding in Hinduism, his commitment to ahimsa, respect for all life, the great life force. His commitment to satyagraha was an integral part of this – a commitment to truth above all else. Today this resonates with us through the saying “speak truth to power.” Would Gandhi have had the courage and the stamina to endure decades of struggle against British imperialism if his work hadn’t been grounded in his spirituality? In more recent times we behold yet another great icon of struggle for peace with justice whose work was deeply grounded in spirituality. Archbishop Desmond Tutu's most famous quote is "faith is a risk but it is a risk I cannot risk living without". That is why he was able to stand firm in his advocacy against Apartheid in South Africa. Faith grounded Tutu's work in the struggle for a more just, peaceful and democratic South Africa. There are many other examples of people whose witness has been clearly centered in their spirituality. I think of those US Christians who offered sanctuary to Central American refugees twenty years ago, because of their commitment to the Gospel. I think of those brave war-tax resisters who continue in their quiet ways to challenge the military-industrial complex in simple acts of civil disobedience. I think of the thousands of Americans who seek in their daily lives to “do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with their God” (Micah 6:8). What does this suggest for us? I invite you to reflect on three dimensions to spiritual discernment as the basis for advocacy. 1. Spiritual discernment grounds us. Spiritual discernment gives us strength, conviction, and the courage to withstand the harsh realities of power. Being in touch with the word of God and with the God who is within each of us, makes us able to withstand the day-to-day rigors of working for peace and justice at a time when the forces for war and oppression are ascendant. Working for peace and justice in the United States has never been easy. One of my American colleagues told me of her first visit to Sudan in the mid-1980s, when hundreds of thousands of refugees from the Ethiopian famine were living in tents and where the clinics were filled with emaciated babies. She met an American nurse working in a feeding clinic. The temperature was over 130, there was no electricity or indoor plumbing, and the scenes of human tragedy were all around. And she asked that American nurse “how do you stand it out here? How do you keep going?” And the nurse laughed and said, “Oh, this is a million times easier than advocating for Africa in the United States… Here, every day I see the results of my work; I watch babies growing healthier, I see families getting stronger. But in the US these days, you can work harder and harder, you can develop ever more effective strategies, and things get worse. I’d much rather be working for justice in eastern Sudan than in Washington.” And in 2004, working for peace and justice in the halls of power in the United States is exhausting work. Spiritual grounding is necessary to keep you going. When you are in touch with God and when you feel confident of truth, righteousness, peace and faith, you can not only climb mountains, but you have the stamina to make still more calls to members of Congress and to send out yet another letter asking your constituency to do likewise. Let me be clear what we mean by spirituality. I see spirituality in terms of deep engagement; with God, with one's inner self, with other people, with the issues of life. "Being spiritual is not the same as being religious. Religion is about what you believe and do. Spirituality is to do with quality; it is a thing of the heart. Religion draws lines. Spirituality reads between them. It tends to avoid definitions, boundaries and battles. It is inclusive and holistic. It crosses frontiers and makes connections. It is characterised by sensitivity, gentleness, depth, openness, flow, feeling, quietness, wonder, paradox, being, waiting, acceptance, awareness, healing and inner journey." (Brian Woodcock) Spiritual discernment usually requires commitment and discipline. Time and patience are needed. Time to listen to God, patience to wait upon the Lord. To be honest, most advocates I know don’t have a lot of time, and patience is not generally one of our virtues. But for those advocates who are motivated by the values of the Gospel, spiritual discernment is key. This is time well spent. A spiritual perspective gives us hope. The courage to hope means that we shall refuse to accept our current experience of the human condition as permanent. 2. Secondly, spiritual discernment allows us to step back from the immediate issues and to see the larger picture. We all get so wrapped up in specific issues, in details of a particular piece of legislation or drafting text for a possible UN resolution, that sometimes we lose sight of the overarching issue. A process of spiritual discernment can get us back on track. Something is wrong in our world and we must not rest until we set it right. Something is gravely wrong when at the beginning of the 21st century, the wealth of the three richest individuals on earth surpassed the combined annual GDP of the 48 least developed countries. Something is terribly morally wrong with this kind of inequality. Political arguments and economic rationalizations cannot counter the basic immorality of a world with this degree of inequality. Something is gravely wrong in the world when there is still a real risk that nuclear weapons will be used in our lifetimes. Nuclear proliferation is an outrage to all humanity. The recent revelations that nuclear weapons technology has been traded to various countries are a scandal. But it is equally a scandal that countries which possess vast arsenals of nuclear weapons are not only unwilling to renounce their use, but are actually developing new and terrifying weapons technologies. We must continue to strongly advocate for total elimination of production, trading and the use of nuclear weapons. History witnesses that there is no nation, however democratic and however stable, that could be entrusted with nuclear weapons. Nuclear disarmament has been a priority for the WCC and many of our member churches for 55 years or more. This weekend, at the initiative of the United Methodist Church, several church leaders are launching a Moral Appeal for Nuclear Disarmament. We welcome this initiative and hope that you will give this appeal the strongest possible support. The promise of abundant life provides a framework for ethical discernment as a basis for common action. Churches are called, for example, in situations of gross violations of human rights to affirm our ethical vision that claims every living being as part of the household of God. We are all part of the household of God. We are all made in the image of God. The human dignity of individual persons is to be understood in terms of the nature of the being, created by God, that is human. The single most important criterion by which leaders are to be judged is the extent to which they contribute to the enhancement of life. This is an ethical “yardstick” which we can all affirm. What does this mean for our advocacy? In the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, sexual and gender-based violence has reached unspeakable levels of brutality. Women and girls are being raped and abused by both military and rebel forces. They have nowhere to turn and medical facilities are almost nonexistent. This violence is hardly reported by the media. God’s promise of abundant life seems very distant for the women of Ituri and Bunia. But if we believe that we are all made in the image of God, then the violation of these women is a call to action. A call to raise the issue in our advocacy. A call to halt the traffic in small arms. A call to see God in these violated women. A call to prayer and repentance. Violence takes many forms, including poverty. Poverty degrades human dignity and the human spirit. A belief in God’s call for abundant life means, first and foremost, affirming the right of the poor to liberate themselves from their human condition. The struggle for life must be rooted in the experiences and the actions of those who are oppressed. When the poor as social actors begin to disappear behind the word “poverty” as defined by the statistics of the international financial institutions, like the World Bank, our whole understanding changes. Poverty becomes an abstract term, divorced from the reality of what it means to be people who are poor. We must struggle to hold up the voices of the poor, to recognize them as actors in their own struggles, and to enable them to advocate on their own behalf, to tell their own stories. Confronting poverty is a justice issue. 3. Thirdly, a process of spiritual discernment allows us to make a particular contribution to the broader advocacy efforts. Churches certainly do not have all the answers nor do we always get it right. But there is something in the seeking for a higher moral truth that gives our advocacy a different character than that of our secular counterparts. Perhaps surprisingly, politics today allows much more room for values, principles and public voice, compared to ten years ago. Political leaders and UN officials recognize that they do not have all the answers and that political solutions are often insufficient. Increasingly they are turning to churches for guidance, for ethical reflection, for a moral grounding on the burning issues of the day. A few years ago, one of my colleagues wrote a background paper on the ethics of so-called “humanitarian intervention” and went to New York to discuss it with senior UN officials. In her paper, she concentrated on political analysis of various situations and tried to avoid too many overtly Christian terms because she wanted the paper to be taken seriously. But she found that the UN officials were eager to hear ethical, Christian perspectives. “We can do the political analysis,” one official told her. “We are very good at analyzing all sides to a political question. But what we can’t do very well is look at the morality of an issue. That’s where we need you. What’s the morally right thing to do in the case of Rwanda or Sierra Leone? We in the UN don’t have the answers. Nor do the world’s political leaders. We are counting on the churches.” When we devote the necessary time for genuine spiritual discernment, we can be confident about our positions. We are likely to be heard and to be listened to. We are able to question accepted understandings of power. In December last year, in Geneva where I live, there was the launching of the so-called Geneva initiative in response to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Several hundred civil society participants – Israelis and Palestinians – came by chartered flights for the event. However, they did not arrive together, as the initiative has no backing from the government of Israel and the Palestinians were not allowed to leave through Israel. The Israeli planes came from Tel Aviv, while the Palestinian plane left from Amman. Nevertheless, there was a strong common message from the civil society participants about the need to find a common future in the Holy Land. This is an initiative without power in the traditional sense. However, by using contacts, skills and knowledge, the initiators are influencing the agendas of many governments – the European Union, the US, Russia, and the two parties to the conflict. We need to reclaim the vision of power from the Gospel, of power based on humility, on non-violence, on prayer and spiritual discernment. Spiritual discernment directs our attention to the big issues, to questioning current interpretations, to searching for a deeper reality which gives our advocacy depth and passion and the strength of our convictions. Spiritual discernment isn’t a luxury, something we do when we have a bit of free time while we are going about our main business of advocacy. I hope that you see spirituality as the foundation for your work and that you rely on your faith as the “armor of God” which protects you from the bullets and barbs of your work. I also want to highlight the gift of the spirit of hope as a source of energy for peace and justice movements and to emphasize that community is the favored place for the spirit to reveal itself. Therefore any peace and justice work should not only be in favor of community somewhere else but should also foster your communities here. A Global Christian Fellowship The second theme I’d like to raise – which makes us different from our wonderful secular counterparts – is that we are part of a global Christian community. We are part of an ecumenical community. As I have written elsewhere in the context of Africa: “the main challenge facing churches today is the ability to develop capacities for ethical discernment, advocacy and programmes, which link processes at the grassroots level where action is needed and to the national and regional levels where policy is formulated. The other challenge is how to channel common, concerted efforts ecumenically at the grassroots level in response to conflicts and human suffering within these communities. Churches must be equipped with the knowledge of contemporary links between global and local situations if they are to gain a clear understanding of the dilemmas they are facing and why.” Sam Kobia, The Courage to Hope: The Roots for a New Vision and the Calling of the Church in Africa, Geneva: WCC, 2003, p. 170. How do we link the grassroots with the national and international levels at which advocacy is conducted? Here the churches are truly in a unique position. There are hardly any countries in the world where there are no local churches. The churches are an incredible network of Christians striving to follow the values of the Gospel in every corner of the globe. If we can develop means of channeling the concerns of the global church – the stories of individuals and communities – into effective advocacy at the national and international levels, I am convinced that these stories will change policies. I encourage you to reach out to your brothers and sisters in other parts of the world – to hear their stories, to listen to their cries, to channel these hopes and dreams into effective work in the halls of power. And what resources we have in this ecumenical family. I want to highlight once again the case of Sudan – a country close to my heart. As you know, we are very close to a peace agreement in Sudan after almost 20 years of a heartbreaking war. While the peace agreement has not yet been signed and there are some intricate issues still to be addressed, such as the application of Sharia law and equitable sharing of political power, an agreement seems likely. But the agreement could not have taken place without the hard and excellent work and time put in by Kenya’s Special Envoy to IGAD and the continuous backing and support of the Troika countries: USA, Norway and United Kingdom. It is an impressive story of how the churches in Sudan have worked, hand in hand with governments and with an inter-governmental body. We wouldn’t have gotten this far towards a peace agreement without the sustained witness of the churches in both the North and Southern Sudan. And we couldn’t have gotten this far without the committed and sympathetic governments and the work of IGAD, an inter-governmental organization. While it seems that Sudan is an encouraging example of how resources can be pooled to promote a positive outcome, I want to emphasize that the story is not finished and that continued advocacy by churches in the US and elsewhere is needed to bring an end to this terrible conflict. If peace is achieved in Sudan, it will be because of the churches and their efforts to work with other forces for peace. Similar initiatives are needed in the case of the Middle East. We need a new dynamic in the Middle East. We are trapped in a cycle of reaction and counter-reactions. We need, of course, to take into account the history of injustices, but we would also benefit from fresh and creative thinking about possible solutions to the present seeming impasse. US churches have played a major role in strengthening our advocacy to bring about a just solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel, has enjoyed strong support from US churches and needs more recruits who are ready to be active witnesses as a local peaceful alternative to the logic and practice of violence in Israel and the Occupied Territories. In collaboration with Churches in Palestine the World Council of Churches is opening the Jerusalem Ecumenical Centre as an expression of ecumenical solidarity with churches in the region. We need to draw connections between the reality faced by churches in the Middle East and advocacy carried out in Washington and Brussels and New York. It is only by drawing these links, by drawing on our strength as churches that meaningful change can come about. Let me close with a particular word about the challenges and the opportunities of churches in the United States for advocating for global peace and justice. The United States I want to affirm that the vitality and creativity of peace and justice work in the United States is a resource for the global ecumenical family. We in Africa and elsewhere have learned from the experience of peace and justice advocates in the US. In many ways you have been on the leading edge of advocacy work. The diversity of people and communities in the US is a tremendous gift to the worldwide ecumenical movement. In a cultural context where the media tend to polarize and categorize into ‘left’ or ‘right,’ ‘democratic’ or ‘republican,’ ‘pro’ or ‘con,’ the church can demonstrate that the Kingdom of God is truly inclusive of different colors, backgrounds and political opinions. The contributions the United States has made to the world are many – from science to music, from philosophy to economics, your resources are enormous. Those of us from other parts of the world, sometimes dream of what the world would look like if the US devoted its vast resources to the values of the Kingdom; if the US would genuinely work towards eradicating poverty in the US first and foremost and then in the rest of the world. We pray and hope that the US, which has the means, the resources and the ability, may also have the will, and the right policies towards building just, participatory and sustainable communities for the sake of humanity. It is probably true that we hold the US to a higher standard than we hold other countries. That may seem unjust but it is perhaps an inevitable consequence of the many resources you have been given. I remember talking with a young Middle Eastern woman a year or so ago who said, “when I was growing up, the US was my ideal. In the US, people could demonstrate and protest and try to change the government’s policies. And they were protected by law! In my country, people were put into prison for daring to criticize the leader. People still speak in whispers. But in America, people were free. What a powerful image that was for us, what an inspiration.” But then she went on, “but now that is all gone. I can’t understand what has happened since 11 September. People are locked up without judicial recourse? People are portrayed as disloyal if they criticize their government’s policies? The US government has invaded Iraq without the support of the United Nations? I feel like I have lost not only my hope in the US, but my ideals.” Nevertheless the American people, like those of you gathered here today, are a source of inspiration for many others in the world. This is why today the world is looking at the people in the US, and particularly the churches and movements advocating for peace with justice. We therefore commend the National Council of Churches for its persistence in regard to the issue of the Guantanamo Bay detainees and their families. Please continue to stand up for due process rights for suspects of any kind. In 2001, the World Council of Churches launched the Decade to Overcome Violence, challenging churches and related organizations to do more to address the violence in their communities, the violence in our world. The Decade is not a programme to be implemented by WCC, but rather a worldwide movement to overcome the scourge of violence at all levels – from violence within the family to ethnic violence in society to wars between countries to confronting nuclear proliferation. Can you imagine what the world would be like if churches worldwide made overcoming violence their top priority? We have seen amazing and encouraging initiatives taking place within the framework of the Decade to Overcome Violence. But much, much more needs to be done. Every year during the Decade, there is a different regional and thematic focus. In 2002, the focus was on the illegal occupation of Palestine by Israel. In 2003, the focus was on Sudan. But this year the focus is on the United States under the theme of “The Power and Promise of Peace.” We see this year as an opportunity to highlight the contributions which US churches and movements have made to the cause of peace. This is a year when churches worldwide are expressing solidarity with churches in the United States. We know it is not easy speaking truth to power in the United States these days. But we want you to know that we are with you. We hope that you feel the support of the global ecumenical fellowship of churches worldwide as you conduct your advocacy for a better USA and for a better world. I want to express our gratitude for the tremendously creative and dedicated work the US DOV Committee, the NCCCUSA and many individuals have done so in the last few months to give content and shape to this Annual DOV Focus. This will undoubtedly give strong impetus to the ecumenical Decade to Overcome Violence. My dream is that the US would move from its present foreign policy to one based on peace-making, one which, in the words of Rev. Bob Edgar, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches is: Internationally engaged Rooted in multilateral cooperation Committed to collective security through arms control, deterrence, disarmament and international cooperation Dedicated to the very best principles of the United States And is proactive, not reactive. Imagine what a foreign policy would look like. Imagine what the world would look like with such a US foreign policy. As you go forth to talk with your congressional representatives, I hope that you will draw strength from each other and from the different churches which you represent. I believe that ecumenism should continue to be the basis for your common action. At the World Council of Churches, of course, we are committed to church unity. I don’t believe it was Christ’s vision that his church would be separated into hundreds of different denominations. I do believe that by working together, by advocating together, churches are moved toward unity. And I also believe that by uniting your voices in advocacy much more can be achieved than by working individually. I would argue that greater cooperation and joint witness take priority over institutional or denominational self-interest. The spirit of Christ is a spirit of unity and peace, not of individualism and competition. But I also hope that you will not only work together in the US context, but that you will reach out and link your efforts to those Christians who are struggling in distant places and who are willing to support and accompany you and to pray for you and with you. The broad Christian family has many resources that can be used effectively to bring about change. To bring about justice and peace. To bring food to the hungry. To bring hope to those living in poverty and fear. It has been more than 3,000 years since the prophet Isaiah walked this earth. But his words remain a vision for us in the year 2004. Let us join Elijah in saying: They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another eat: for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be and my house shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity; for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord, and their children with them. Before they call I will answer, while they are yet speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together.” Brothers and sisters, let us work together, and walk together side by side, hand in hand, young and not so young, black and white, Christians and people of other faiths, men and women, to make this vision come true during our time. Thank you and God bless you in your advocacy in the coming days. ©2004 World Council of Churches | remarks to webeditor@wcc-coe.org