Today (12/10/02) the faith-based revolt against the impending war in Iraq poured out of hallowed halls and into the streets. Joining people in 120 other cities and towns under the banner of United for Peace, New York's religious leaders celebrated International Human Rights Day by bearing witness to the poverty and suffering of those both in Iraq and at home. Before the day's end, the mass arrest of interfaith leadership marked the arrival of still another dimension of the burgeoning anti-war movement.
The stage seemed to be set by a full-page ad in The New York Times on December 4, placed by the National Council of Churches. President Bush was pictured with
his head bowed in prayer. The caption, reminding the president of his lip service to his own faith motivations, pleaded to him:
"Jesus changed your heart. Now let him change your mind."
While religious communities have long been at the forefront of anti- war activism, they showed their collective force today. Following an interfaith vigil in Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, more than 100 ministers, imams, rabbis, nuns, lay leaders, seminarians, and faith-based community organizers blocked the sidewalk and were arrested in front of the U.S. Mission to the United Nations.
The stage seemed to be set by a full-page ad in The New York Times on December 4, placed by the National Council of Churches. President Bush was pictured with
his head bowed in prayer. The caption, reminding the president of his lip service to his own faith motivations, pleaded to him:
"Jesus changed your heart. Now let him change your mind."
While religious communities have long been at the forefront of anti- war activism, they showed their collective force today. Following an interfaith vigil in Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, more than 100 ministers, imams, rabbis, nuns, lay leaders, seminarians, and faith-based community organizers blocked the sidewalk and were arrested in front of the U.S. Mission to the United Nations.