ecumenism" "
No to the military intervention in Afghanistan of which “the objectives and above all the consequences are not yet known”. Yes to the international fight against terrorism, though it requires “extremely complex” methods of investigation and networks of intervention. But, first and foremost, giving the final go-ahead to the “creation of an international penal tribunal”. This, in essence, is the request made by Jean-Arnold de Clermont, president of the Federation of Protestant Churches in France, summarizing in a declaration the conclusions that emerged from the meeting of the Council held over the last few days. “We want to say Clermont explains how much the use of armed forces, although legitimate, is causing us disquiet”. “In invoking the fight against terrorism, it seems to us worthwhile also to emphasize the need not to succumb to the temptation to focus our attention on a single culprit, or a single country”. On the involvement of religion is such a tragedy, the Federation reaffirms that “it is not possible to kill others or to kill oneself in the name of God”. We need to resist every form of “denigration of Islam”; prevent the more integralist currents and deformations from taking the place of moderate Islam; avoid the use of terms like “holy war” or “crusade”; not equate the significance of religion with power; and reconsider “the lay state as one in which the religious person may participate in the construction of a better society”. The Federation therefore invites the local communities “to multiply the occasions for meeting and dialogue with those who are profoundly disturbed by the ambiguous use that may be made of religion, with Jews, Moslems and believers of other religions”.
