OPF’s Syria statement plus related material

Orthodox Christian Statement Opposing Military Action Against Syria, Supporting Narrative, Letter to President Obama, and more

Statement:

Dear members and friends of the Orthodox Peace Fellowship and all Orthodox Christians: On August 21, 2013, a robust chemical weapons attack took place in Damascus, Syria, which US intelligence alleges was carried out by the Bashar Assad government and killed over 1400 civilians.... Read More and Sign

Supporting Narrative:

The following offers some narrative support for the Statement. Whereas the Narrative supports the succinct text of the Statement, it too is necessarily brief; however, numerous supporting materials are offered as background to help broaden understanding (we will begin adding these shortly).... Read More

OPF Letter to President Obama

Mr. President,

The Orthodox Peace Fellowship is a worldwide organization within the Orthodox Christian community that seeks to bear witness to the wisdom of seeking all possible non-violent solutions to conflict in our effort to imitate Christ. Our largest and most active membership is in the US. We know you share our conviction that violence should always be a last resort, and only when it comes to us may we respond–with justice and all possible restraint. ... Read More

Additional Orthodox and Other Christian Statements, Letters, News Reports

  1. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Issues Statement (news report)
  2. Letter to President Obama from Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York
  3. Russian Orthodox Patriarchate Opposes US Military Intervention (NYT news report)
  4. US Conference of Catholic Bishops Urges Congress to Pursue Political Solution in Syria, Not Military Option. (useful background and links)
  5. Letter to President Obama from Metropolitan Philip, Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
  6. Summary of Major Religious Leaders' Stand (interesting, but brief and not in-depth)

Just War

Enter "just war," "lesser good," or "lesser evil" into our site search bar above for numerous related articles and essays in our archive. Other topical search terms related to war, peace, and peacemaking will yield similarly rich results. Several articles have their own bibliographies listing excellent resources not on our site.

  1. Alexander F. C. Webster: Crusade for Humanity? Does "humanitarian intervention" rise to just cause? (book chapter)
  2. Is Just War Doctrine Another Victim of Syria Conflict? Excellent article on First Things website by David Gibson: a skeptical and honest analysis with several embedded links that lead to discussions of various perspectives. A good beginning for those looking for a moral grounding in their thinking on war.