Like many of you, I have been following with great interest the story of Cindy Sheehan’s simple peace vigil down in Crawford, Texas. She is a mother from California whose son died in Iraq.

Her effort to meet with President Bush has attracted national attention. Peace activists have made her a celebrity, while supporters of the war have villainized her, especially on talk radio. The uproar has caused the President to take a helicopter back and forth to his ranch where he is vacationing. His handlers thought it would be bad for his limo to zoom past this mother, sitting in the hot Texas sun. They know a bad photo op when they see one.

The President has even felt compelled to repudiate those who are calling him to bring our troops home from Iraq. Actually, though, I think all Cindy Sheehan has done is asked him to take an hour from his vacation to meet with her. In fact, as I thought about it, I’m not sure I would call on the President to simply withdraw from Iraq.

That is a valid position to take, but there is also an extent to which we have made a mess of their lives and now have some obligation to help them rebuild and find stability and security. Now, before you start that e-mail to me, let me say that I know that life under Saddam wasn’t idyllic for the people of Iraq and most are very glad he is gone. Still, we are responsible for much of the current mess, and my mother always taught me to clean up the messes I make.

No, what I’d like to call on President Bush to do is repent! It is an ancient Biblical principle. As a Christian, Mr. Bush should have heard of it. In fact, as a Christian, he should have practiced it. Repentance isn’t just for Lent. No, it is the appropriate spiritual response when a Christian:

• Deceives, misleads or otherwise lies. It is increasingly clear that the President was determined to get rid of Saddam Hussein and that the facts made very little difference. The fact that he surrounded himself with warmongering sycophants who told him what he wanted to hear doesn’t absolve him of moral responsibility.

• Acts vengefully. Jesus was clear that our responsibility was forgiveness and turning the other cheek. The President clearly felt an obligation to avenge his father since Saddam had tried to assassinate him. Perhaps because his father failed to remove him in the first Gulf War, George II started Gulf War II to avenge him. Revenge is a sin for a Christian, and, since Iraq did nothing to us and had no weapons of mass destruction, that seems to be the only logical reason for attacking Iraq when there were dozens of other dictators that deserve defeat. The president literally holds hands with the Saudis but their country is just as repressive to women and just as autocratic as Iraq.

• Uses power to manipulate people. The President continues to relentlessly link the terrorist attacks of 9/11 with Iraq, though he knows full well that is false. In fact, the only thing the "war on terror" in Iraq has accomplished is the creation of more terrorists.

• Practices deliberate hypocrisy. After all, what kind of mental gymnastics must the President use when he attacks the Taliban for their theocracy, while allowing Karl Rove to set up one here? Doesn’t he realize that Al Qaeda is a faith-based initiative? And speaking of hypocrisy and Karl Rove, when did political revenge become an acceptable motive for treason? The President declared that he will fire anyone involved in this sordid affair, then back tracks and says he’ll fire anyone convicted of a crime. By the time that process takes place Mr. Bush will be safely retired in Texas.

I don’t know enough to know if we need to simply withdraw from Iraq, but I have been a Christian long enough to know that, like all the rest of us when we sin, the President needs a very large dose of repentance.

I want to invite everyone who gets this e-mail to write a letter to the Editor of your local paper and forward this to everyone in your address book. Let’s see if we can’t start a movement to call the President to repent. Maybe then he can meet mothers of the dead with a clear conscience.

Hope for Peace & Justice is fighting the battle for progressive values at many levels. Your support of our efforts will enable us to send our message to an expanded audience. If you’re not already doing so, please become an active contributor to our efforts by pledging a monthly gift. You can do more than read our materials and write letters. Your financial help will be used wisely to ensure the voice of the religious right is not the only spiritual voice that is heard.

Hope for Peace & Justice needs you! With your support, we can change the world.

Dennis Bolin
Board of Directors

“I am convinced that Hope for Peace & Justice will make a difference because it is doing things at a community level and meeting people where they live.” MORE...