WASHINGTON, USA - The General Board of Church and Society of the United Methodist Church is working to defeat the nuclear missile defense system. President Bush is a member of the United Methodist Church. The church's 67 bishops have unanimously approved a strongly worded statement urging the defeat of President Bush's proposed strategic missile defense system.
The Bishops' statement follows the passage of a resolution by The General Conference of the United Methodist Church calling for an end to the development of the missile defense system. Citing the threat to world security and peace presented by the proposed system, the Church's General Board of Church and Society (GBCS) plans to deploy staff, gather volunteers, create a web site, lobby members of Congress and establish a vigorous program to reach the Church's 12 million members worldwide. Since one of those members is President George W. Bush, the actions of the Bishops, the General Conference, the United Methodist General Board of Church and Society are especially significant. All other national religious bodies will be invited by The General Board of Church and Society to join their efforts to defeat the missile defense system.
The concerns about "Star Wars II" as articulated by GBCS, go far beyond the complaints of the system's unworkability and astronomical costs. Because of the great vulnerability of the weapons being considered (including lasers and interceptors in space, in the air, and at sea), they would be useless to an innocent nation waiting to be attacked.
Potentially useful to an aggressor with the element of surprise on its side, the weapon's primary uses are all offensive, including destroying opposing satellites, seizing military control of space, and attacking targets on the surface of the earth from space without warning.
The United Methodist Bishops in their resolution call upon all people of goodwill to join actively in the struggle to achieve peace with justice. Appealing to President Bush and Congress to refrain from the development of a national missile defense system, the Bishops state, "We must join together to see that the untold billions of dollars proposed for a meaningless search for security through a national missile defense system are not once again taken from the mouths of children and the poor."
Only the General Conference speaks for the entire denomination. The General Board of Church and Society is the international public policy and social action agency of The United Methodist Church.
Contact: Bishop Dale White, 401-856-0966 (work) or 401-847-3419 (home) or Jaydee Hanson, 202-488-5650 Both of the United Methodist Church