uumia.org

The Congregation passed a Resolution for the United States to end the war in Iraq on May 27, 2007.  Here is the text of that resolution.

Resolution of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Miami

Passed at a Congregational Meeting on May 27, 2007

We, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Miami, resolved in 2002 that we did not support the United States military invasion of Iraq.  Unfortunately, as predicted in our 2002 resolution, this pre-emptive invasion has greatly increased human suffering and political instability, alienated us from our allies, and significantly increased hostility toward the United States.  This course of action has resulted in the death of more than 3300 American troops and over 61,000 Iraqi civilians, and has done extensive damage to the environment.  We remain dependent on foreign oil and have diverted our attention from the critical challenges of global poverty and economic injustice, environmental degradation, inadequate healthcare, human rights violations, and the continuing erosion of civil liberties.  Our government’s actions have consistently ignored popular opinion and international law, adopting a national policy that condones torture and indefinite imprisonment without benefit of legal representation or due process.  

Following the attacks of September 2001, the US government squandered the rare opportunity to build upon the international compassion and goodwill toward our country and instead chose a course that has decreased our security and moral standing in the world.  Its misguided war-minded focus has served to falsify information and oppress the free expression of the media and individuals that is critical to democracy and has ill-defined patriotism as unquestioning, mindless support of our current policies.  Silence equals complicity.  A participatory democracy requires us to resist fear, apathy, and helplessness and take seriously our responsibilities as US citizens to make our wishes known and to hold our government accountable.

Therefore, we, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Miami, do hereby resolve that we support the cessation of United States military action in Iraq and we call upon our government to seek the engagement of the peoples of the region and the international community to pursue a constructive, compassionate alternative that facilitates peaceful coexistence.  We, as a congregation, express our intention to seek and promote peaceful solutions to global issues that respect and support the earth and all of its inhabitants.  We therefore commit ourselves to promote peace through our actions and vigilant mindfulness of our responsibilities to all life on this earth.  We wish our congregation to become known as an advocate of peace through our public witness.

Specifically, we commit to communicate with our elected representatives to inform and support them in seeking peaceful solutions.  We commit to facilitate dialogue and disseminate information to raise awareness and to assist others in making their voices heard.  This may be accomplished through peaceful, public demonstration, speaker events, and alliance with other organizations. Our public witness will include letters to the editor, articles in local papers, press releases, and appearances on radio and television community programming.  We further commit ourselves to promote a peaceful future by educating our children in nonviolent conflict resolution and by emphasizing to them the importance of global consciousness and personal responsibility with respect to the interdependence of all life on this planet.