FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Pentecostals Criticize Airstrikes in Libya

Dallas, Texas, March 24, 2011 – Pentecostals & Charismatics for Peace & Justice (www.pcpj.org) has issued a strong statement criticizing the war in Libya and affirming nonviolent social change.

“Airstrikes authorized by resolution of the United Nations Security Council and by allied governments of European and North American countries are presently underway in Libya. We, the leadership team of Pentecostals and Charismatics for Peace and Justice (PCPJ), write this statement fully aware that by virtue of our citizenship in the United States we are complicit in the actions of the current administration.

We are also aware of the violence the Gaddafi government continues to perpetrate against the people of Libya. However, the actions taken under authority of the Security Council and by the hands of the governments of European nations and the United States re-inscribe the colonial past and neo-colonial present these governments enacted. Therefore, we stand with those who nonviolently oppose the Gaddafi government in Libya.

We simultaneously condemn the violence, injustice, and oppression manifest by the Gaddafi government, and oppose the increased violence now manifest by the United States, French, Italian, British, and allied governments. We affirm that a true, lasting, and just peace cannot be created by violence, and we question the motives of these governments who now claim to be defending civilians.

Libya has the largest oil reserves in Africa, and the ninth largest oil reserves in the world. The control of this oil will most likely shift to US and European corporations when Gaddafi is removed. We name and reject this re-inscribed colonial violence in the name of freedom in nations with vast natural resources.

In the tradition of the biblical prophets, we testify, “‘Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6 NRSV). As the United States executes wars in three largely Muslim countries, we strengthen our commitment to justice and peace through nonviolence throughout the whole of God’s creation, and we pray and call for a cessation of all hostilities, violence, and economic exploitation in Libya.

In the name of Jesus and the in the power of the Holy Spirit, Pentecostals & Charismatics for Peace & Justice Leadership Team”

Contact:

Rev. Sam Martinez
sam@pcpj.org This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Phone: (214) 341-0700

Rev. Paul Alexander, PhD
paul@pcpj.org This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Phone: (484) 887-0082
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I wrote this on September 25, 2001.

A Transforming Initiative / Declaration of Faithfulness

Rebuild Afghanistan! That is the call of God to the church today. It is the call of God to all people everywhere, of all faiths and nationalities. The evil of the few will not bring our wrath on the many, we will not be defined by their hatred and not be reduced to their revenge. Christians are to be characterized by our Jesus, who did and taught more than mere lack of anger or retaliation. He called us to initiate new and better relationships by being reconciled to our enemies by seeking their good. In the face of adversity, the followers of Jesus feed and clothe, shelter and comfort. And by so doing we win the true victory in true power by revealing the very way of God. We will be called builders of streets with homes for we have learned that mercy is better than sacrifice, we will spend ourselves on behalf of the hungry for our food loses its flavor when we eat only with those who can feed us.

Our mourning and fasting for the fallen in New York City, Washington D.C., and Pennsylvania will not end in quarreling and strife, but with the rebuilding of ancient ruins and age-old foundations. We will not be seduced into selfishness and pride and focus only on our selves and our cities, we will neither wallow in self-pity nor lash out as we have been lashed. We will respond with overwhelming mercy, compassion and desire for reconciliation that challenges the very foundations of the world. We do not buy peace, but willingly and joyfully sacrifice ourselves for our God who leads us toward each other. We will neither lie about our righteousness nor lie about our enemies, instead we will speak truthfully about the sins of the many who have enjoyed prosperity and luxury at the expense of much of the rest of the world. We, the followers of Jesus, have learned well that we are continually to be removing the logs from our eyes so that we will not be the blind leading the blind into the pit. No! We acknowledge our sins, and in view of God’s mercy offer ourselves as living sacrifices. And as acts of worship we will devote our time, effort, work, money, and resources of all kinds to building infrastructures that help the people of Afghanistan. Effort and expense for the United States will be matched and devoted to Afghanistan. Unselfishness and concern for the hurting will outshine all else.

Criticism and rejection from those who would scoff at this path of reconciliation is expected and even understood. But that changes not the fact that this is the way of God and that forgiveness and redemption are better than bitterness and retribution. Loving those who love not in return, lending to those who do not repay, and doing good to those who do no good for you leads to exclusion, insulting, and rejection by many. But this is a time for the church to be hated because of the Son of Man, to rejoice and leap for joy because we are being treated as the prophets were. This is not a time to be rich, well fed, or applauded as the false prophets. Knowing that judgment, condemnation, and forgiveness are pressed down, shaken together, and poured back into our laps with the very measure we use to dish them out, we will be faithful and dish out mercy until it overwhelms our enemies. For God is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked (and we recognize ourselves in that description), and we are to be merciful just as he is.

Rebuild Afghanistan! Though the savagery of war has barely touched the United States, violence has taken its toll on that land for decades. The call of God to the church around the globe, and especially the offended ones in America, is to root out the perpetrators that remain and eat with them. The church knows that vengeance is not ours, that God will repay; and he has chosen to repay by having his people overcome evil with good. That is neither an abstract principal nor an unreachable ideal, it is as concrete as concrete. We do not rely on other political entities to do this, we are a political entity and our politics are those of Jesus. As his body on this earth, as the transformed ones who no longer regard anyone from a worldly perspective, we practice and live the service of reconciliation.

Therefore, we let the world know that people around the globe are uniting and raising funds to rebuild Afghanistan. This is happening before any American violence even takes place there, for our action is not to be reactive but proactive. But how can we do this for a nation that oppresses women the way the Taliban does? Please consider, if nations can kill these same women and call them collateral damage, then we can build them homes with running water, electricity, and toilets. If some nations can kill hundreds of thousands of Arab people and still build for themselves at home, we can build for a nation that kills in proportion. All are called to account for their selfishness and violence, and all enemies of the Way are invited to dinner. Even those in Afghanistan.

- Paul Alexander
September 25, 2001