Tell Congress and the Biden Administration: Ceasefire Now!
During the season of Advent, we prepare for the birth of Jesus, anticipated by Isaiah as the Prince of Peace. It can be hard to imagine a world where peace with justice is the norm. Wars, hatred, sexual and gender-based violence, gun violence, and oppression seem to dominate the news this year and this Advent season.
As a Just Peace church, we are called to envision and work for a world free of violence where justice rolls down like water and God’s peace flows like a stream. Advent invites our active participation as members of the kin-dom of God and calls us to work towards that ultimate vision of peace with justice.
We believe that peace is possible, that violence begets violence, and so we must break that cycle by sharing our vision of just peace.
In this season of Advent, we call on Congress and the Biden Administration to actively work for peace around the world. This means ending all weapons transfers and military aid and pursuing a peace-first agenda instead of a military-first agenda. This means actively working for a ceasefire in Gaza, living up to our obligation under international law to prevent genocide, refraining from further military aid to Israel, and actively working towards a long-term solution where the human rights and dignity of all the people living between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River are respected. The continued violence and destruction does nothing to make Israelis or Palestinians safer. There is no military solution.