The Olympia Friends Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) opposes the current bombing and planned invasion of Iraq by the United States of America. We urge our government to work with the international community to seek diplomatic solutions to conflicts with Iraq. We join people of conscience, other faiths and churches who oppose this dangerous and misguided thrust toward violence. A U.S. attack on Iraq will destroy thousands of lives.
We must use America’s power to break from the past, reject violence and build international institutions of law and order, economic and political justice and environmental protection. Positive U.S. leadership would catalyze people of good will all over the world to effective action. The lives of our children and grandchildren can be liberated from the terror and hatred our own generation is enduring.
We oppose war, believing it is the ultimate rejection of God’s creation. We believe that the sources of violence can be exposed and transformed through creative, courageous and unexpected acts that restore justice, heal human relationships and untangle the deep roots of conflict.
We seek peace and justice through such nonviolent means as God would have for us all.