[Episcopal Peace Fellowship press release] The Episcopal Peace Fellowship (EPF) unequivocally opposes a military strike against Syria.

Still resonating from recently honoring the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – who called the U.S. “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world” – we at EPF base our opposition to a military strike on our EPF Pledge to Nonviolence.

“This is a nonviolence that connects the dots, as Dr. King did, between our opportunistic wars and the inherent violence of our social/economic system that rewards unbridled greed while condoning the injustices and suffering of poverty, racism and diminishing opportunities for abundant life together in community,” said Linda Gather, chair of the EPF national executive council.

“We are also glad that an argument can be made against an attack on the basis of the Just War Theory,” she said.

The Rev. George Clifford, an ethicist and writer who was a U.S. Navy chaplain for 24 years, has written a 1,624 word exploration of President Barack Obama’s call for some military attack on Syria based on the Just War Theory, posted on the EPF website here.

“Under international law,” the Rev. Clifford – an EPF member and consultant – points out, “a nation can legally attack another nation under only two conditions: self-defense or United Nations (UN) authority. The deplorable state of affairs in Syria does not include anything that one can realistically construe as an attack on the United States or EU. Thus, the U.S. cannot legally justify attacking Syria as an act of self-defense.”

“No matter how well intentioned an attack against Syria – attempting to end the use of outlawed chemical weapons, for example – responding with violence may beget more rather than less violence,” the Rev. Clifford points out.

“The overarching purpose of a just war is to stop evil and to move the world closer to God’s peace. Military intervention in Syria seems likely to achieve neither. Therefore, Christians need to raise their voices in protest against possible action now before it becomes too late. Instead of waging an unjust war, the U.S. and EU should aid refugees and work non-violently to end the killing,” he said.