Since the dawn of history governments have promoted war --- and convinced young men to kill other young men -- by dehumanizing the "enemy." They are portrayed as less than human because they have a different color complexion, a different eye shape, even a different clothing style. They are called "evil" because they may worship a different deity, using a different style of ritual. And for this, the young soldiers are told, they deserve to die. And, of course, it is only a small step from fighting opposing soldiers on the battlefield to making total war against the civilian population. During the just-ended twentieth century, this cycle of violence was practically uninterrupted.
The Northwest New Jersey Peace Fellowship brings together people who are opposed to the United States's war in Iraq. That is our principle of unity; however, we are all trying to create a world in which war and violence no longer exist. We cannot hope to put an end to this war in Iraq or to any other war, or more importantly, to all war, if we do not put an end to the racial and religious intolerance that warmakers have used to justify war.
What does that mean for us now? The twentieth century is over, and we can't undo the Holocaust of the gas chambers or the Holocaust of the atomic bombs. But we can look to the future and decide that we are not going to allow such things to happen any more. We reject any notions that any one race is superior to any other race. We reject any notions that anyone should not have full and equal rights in society because of his or her religious beliefs. If nations are going to live in peace, people of different racial origins and religious communities have to live in peace, too. And furthermore, we can't bring a better world into being unless we do it together.
The Northwest New Jersey Peace Fellowship will continue to welcome all who oppose the Iraq war: Christians, whether Protestant, Catholic, or Orthodox; Jews; Muslims; people of non-Old Testament religions, or people of no religion at all. We will continue to welcome African-Americans, Latinos, white people, Asians, Native Americans, and anyone else who opposes this war. But we will have to do more than that: we will actively oppose any racial or religious intolerance wherever we see it. We will oppose any "racial profiling" masquerading as "defense against terrorism." We will oppose any legislation which restricts the rights of immigrant communities by playing on post-September 11 fears.
It is our hope that by taking such a stand, all those who want to see a peaceful world will be comfortable joining with us, and we will be better able to reach out to all sections of our Northwest New Jersey community with our message of peace.