topic by
real watcher
7/17/2002 (8:45) |
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Text of Letter to
President Bush from 40
Evangelical Christian
Leaders
Tuesday, July 16 2002 @ 03:31 PM GMT
Dear Mr. President,
We write as American evangelical Christians concerned
for the well-being of all the children of Abraham in the
Middle East -- Christian, Jewish and Muslim.
We urge you to employ an even-handed policy toward
Israeli and Palestinian leadership so that this bloody
conflict will come to a speedy close and both peoples can
live without fear and in a spirit of shalom/salaam.
An even-handed U.S. policy towards Israelis and
Palestinians does not give a blank check to either side,
nor does it bless violence by either side. An
even-handed policy affirms the valid interests of Israelis
and Palestinians: both states free, economically viable
and secure, with normal relations between Israel and all
its Arab neighbors. We commend your stated support for
a Palestinian state with 1967 borders, and encourage
you to move boldly forward so that the legitimate
aspirations of the Palestinian people for their own state
may be realized.
We abhor and condemn the suicide bombings of the last
22 months and the failure of the Palestinian Authority in
the first year of the intifada to stop the violence against
Israeli citizens. We grieve over the loss of life,
particularly among children, and the suffering by Israelis
and Palestinians. The longer the bloodletting continues,
the more difficult it will be for both sides to reconcile with
each other.
We urge you to provide the leadership necessary for
peacemaking in the Middle East by vigorously opposing
injustice, including the continued unlawful and degrading
Israeli settlement movement. The theft of Palestinian
land and the destruction of Palestinian homes and fields
is surely one of the major causes of the strife that has
resulted in terrorism and the loss of so many Israeli and
Palestinian lives. The continued Israeli military
occupation that daily humiliates ordinary Palestinians is
also having disastrous effects on the Israeli soul.
Mr. President, the American evangelical community is not
a monolithic bloc in full and firm support of present
Israeli policy. Significant numbers of American
evangelicals reject the way some have distorted biblical
passages as their rationale for uncritical support for
every policy and action of the Israeli government instead
of judging all actions - of both Israelis and Palestinians -
on the basis of biblical standards of justice. The great
Hebrew prophets, Isaiah and Jeremiah, declared in the
Old Testament that God calls all nations and all people
to do justice one to another, and to protect the
oppressed, the alien, the fatherless and the widow.
Finally, Mr. President, be assured of our prayers for you
and your cabinet as you lead our nation in this troubled
time. May the strength and peace of the Lord be with
you.
Sincerely,
Raymond J. Bakke
Executive Director
International Urban Associates
Seattle, WA
Craig Barnes
Senior Pastor
National Presbyterian Church
Washington, DC
Marilyn Borst
Executive Director
Evangelicals for Middle East Understanding
Houston, TX
Gary M. Burge
Professor of Theology
Wheaton College & Graduate School
Wheaton, IL
Clive Calver
President, World Relief of the
National Association of Evangelicals
Baltimore, MD
Paul-Gordon Chandler
President & CEO
Partners International
Spokane, WA
John Crosby
Pastor, Christ Presbyterian Church
Minneapolis, MN
Tim Dearborn
Chairman, International Fellowship
Of Evangelical Mission Theologians, USA
Seattle, WA
John De Haan
Executive Director
Association of Evangelical Relief & Development
Organizations (AERDO)
Grand Rapids, MI
John R. Dellenback
Former director, U.S. Peace Corps
U.S. House of Representatives, retired
Medford, OR
Christopher Doyle
President & CEO
American Leprosy Missions
Greenville, SC
Craig Hilton Dyer
President, Bright Hope International
Hoffman Estates, IL
Colleen Townsend Evans
Author, Writer
Fresno, CA
Leighton Ford,
President, Leighton Ford Ministries
Charlotte, NC
Steve Hayner
Past President,
InterVarsity, USA
Madison, WI
Paul Kennel
President, World Concern
Seattle, WA
Don Kruse
Vice President
Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation
Chicago, IL
Peter Kuzmic
Distinguised Professor of World Missions & European
Studies
Gordon-Conwell Seminary
South Hamilton, MA
Max Lange
President, Childcare International
Bellingham, WA
Gordon MacDonald
Board Chairman, World Relief of the
National Association of Evangelicals
Boston, MA
Michael A. Mata
Pastor of Leadership Development
Pasadena (CA) First Church of the Nazarene
Director, Urban Leadership Institute
Rev. Dr. Albert G. Miller
Midwest District Minister,
The House of the Lord Pentecostal Church
Oberlin, OH
Paul Moore
President, CitiHope International
Andes, NY
Richard J. Mouw
President, Fuller Seminary
Pasadena, CA
David Neff
Editor, Christianity Today
Carol Stream, IL
Victor D. Pentz
Senior Minister,
Peachtree Presbyterian Church
Atlanta, GA
Eugene F. Rivers
Special Assistant to the President,
Pan-African Charismatic Evangelical Congress, Boston, MA
Leonard Rodgers
President, Venture International
Tempe, AZ
Andrew Ryskamp
Executive Director
Christian Reformed World Relief Committee - US
Grand Rapids, MI
Scott C. Sabin
Executive Director
Floresta USA
San Diego, CA
Cheryl J. Sanders
Senior Pastor, Third Street Church of God
Washington DC
Howard University School of Divinity
Amb. (r) Robert A. Seiple
Founder & President
The Institute for Global Engagement
St. Davids, PA
Ronald J. Sider
President, Evangelicals for Social Action
St. Davids, PA
Luci N. Shaw
Author, Lecturer, Writer in Residence
Regent College
Vancouver, B.C., Canada
James Skillen
President, Center for Public Justice
Annapolis, MD
Glen Harold Stassen
Professor of Christian Ethics
Fuller Seminary
Pasadena, CA
Richard Stearns
President, World Vision US
Federal Way, WA
Amb. (r) Clyde D. Taylor
Board, International Justice Mission
Washington, DC
Dean Trulear
Pastor, Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church
Twin Oaks, PA
Harold Vogelaar
Resident Scholar in World Religions
Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago
Donald Wagner
Director, Center for Middle East Studies
North Park University
Chicago, IL
Robin & Nancy Wainwright
Board of Directors
Holy Land Trust
Pasadena, CA
Philip Yancey
Author
Evergreen, CO
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