Christian Peace Witness Washington Report

Carrying their message from the National Cathedral to the White House, a massive nonviolent witness marked the anniversary of the Iraq war with a Christian Witness for Peace.

Braving rain, sleet and finally, snow.... Over 4,000 people gathered at the National Cathedral and New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington DC Friday evening for the Christian Peace Witness for Iraq. The service at the cathedral was amazing, opened by a procession of candles and with words by the Dean of the Cathedral. He said that though the sanctuary was used for many different purposes, it always had a historic role as a place of peace and that though there may be many different thoughts on how to end this war, we were united in our desire to bring it to an end.

Celeste Zappala talked about the death of her son, Sgt. Sherwood Baker. Soldiers came to her door asking if she was Baker's mother, she said yes. "'Yes,' and then I fell to the ground and somewhere outside of myself I heard someone screaming and screaming," she said.
As she attended the funeral of another fallen soldier, being buried at Arlington National Cemetary, her eyes drifted to the other places where the earth was being prepared for even more bodies. She knew she had to do something to end this tragedy.

A letter from a U.S. soldier who had served in Iraq was read, in which the soldier recounted that horrible moment when he realized he was pointing his rifle at a group of 8 year-old boys. "What sort of ambassador of Christ could I be?" he wondered.

The Rev. Warnock of Ebeneezer Baptist Church (historic home church of Dr. Martin Luther King) brought the crowd at the cathedral to its feet when he said "Too many people are focused on trying to avoid America losing this war. That's not the point. The question is whether America is going to lose its soul. And the only way we can avoid that is with a surge.... of the nonviolent army of the Lord, following that Radical Rabbi of the Ghetto." He went on to add ""We need a surge in conscience and a surge in activism and a surge in truth-telling."

Throughout the service there was storytelling and powerful music. Given the season of Lent, the image of Christ on the cross was weaved into the music and words. "Were you there when they crucified my Jesus?" took on new meaning for many, as Rev. Warnock compared Jesus' being crucified with African Americans that were lynched in the American south. Then, he reminded us of Saddam Hussein's hanging, and asked us all "Aren't we better than that?"

The Rev. Dr. Bernice Powell Jackson, representing the World Council of Churches asked us if we could feel the presence of over 500 million Christians joining us in the quest for peace. The World Council put out a press release calling the war "disasterous" warning of "further carnage and destruction" because the "sponsors of this tragic war insist on carrying on military pursuits."

Leaders from 15 Christian denominations and representatives from 25 faith-based partner organizations participated in the service. "This is the only faith-based initiative we need in Washington DC," one leader noted "the initiative to end this war!"

"This war, from a Christian point of view, is morally wrong — and was from the beginning," the Rev. Jim Wallis of Sojourners said to thunderous applause. "This war is ... an offense against God."
As the service ended, candles were carried out into the street where a fresh coat of snow had replaced the earlier rain. Within ten minutes, even the snow stopped so that the thousands of marchers could carry their light of peace the three plus miles to the White House.

There, in a scene reminiscent of the lunch counter protests of the civil rights movement, hundreds lined up two by two, to walk to the White House gates, kneel in prayer, and await arrest. Busses has been brought in by the police, and 100 people at a time, exercising "divine obedience," awaited arrest. The first hundred took over two hours in the freezing cold to be placed in their busses. By 2:30am, all who planned to be arrested had been. Posessions, including IDs, and photographs were taken as each person entered the busses, the arestees were then transported to the Anacostia jail, and at the jail, after being fingerprinted, they were picked up by busses arranged by the peace witness and brought back to New York Avenue Presbyterian Church. The jail for for those who were arrested that night was the bus. The jail cells at Anacostia were being reserved for the protesters coming to the Pentagon on Saturday.

Friends and family awaited the arestees at NY Avenue, and finally, at 5:30am, the final busload returned.

For those who might have been looking for special nuggets of wisdom or inspiration to take away from the experience, Father Louis Vitale has one wonderful answer. When someone remarked how wonderful it was to have "so many Saints willing to be arrested this way," Father Vitale responded "I'm no saint.... and what the world needs right now are a lot more prophets, we already have enough saints."

So, the role dear readers and listeners, for you now, is to carry the messages forward to our churches, mosques, synagogues, homes, and the halls of power...... we've lost far too many saints and it is time for the prophets to raise their voices and demand an end to this war. Bring our troops home, so that no other mother has to go through what Ms. Celeste Zappala went through as she watched her son being buried at Arlington. As she mourned her loss, she watched as "the earth was being prepared for the next bodies."

It is 6:30am, and this writer is weary and ready for bed. But before I sign off, I must tell you that as we walked from the White House after our friends were arrested to await their return at NY Avenue Presbyterian, we walked past the bundled bodies of homeless people, huddled around the windows of a convenience store. A few more of Rev. Warnock's words stayed with us as we passed..... "Surely we are better than this."

The world needs a few more prophets. What are you doing this afternoon?

Click here to visit the National Cathedral web site for photos and videos of the event