War on Iraq Debated in Nation's Churches
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: War with Iraq is being debated in the court of popular opinion, too, included the nation's churches. Many Christian leaders are against war, but others support it. Both are turning to their Bibles for answers. CNN's Brian Cabell reports.</s>BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Listen to American clergymen and you will hear little but opposition toward a war on Iraq.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will call upon you to reject the Bush administration's call for a war against Iraq.</s>CABELL: Dozens of Christian denominations, at least the leaders, have denounced any possible attack, insisting that the Bible instructs man to use restraint and reconciliation when dealing with one's enemies. But there are dissenters among the clergy.</s>PASTOR JAMES MERRITT, FIRST BAPTIST, SNELLVILLE: You're always a dependent of God.</s>CABELL: Southern Baptist pastor, James Merritt.</s>MERRITT: In the Old Testament, there were several times that God commanded his people to go to war. It was not an option.</s>CABELL: Evil nations, Merritt says, were severely disciplined by God. From Amos, chapter four, verse 10 -- "I sent among you a plague after the manner of Egypt; your young men I killed with a sword along with your captive forces. I made the stench of your camps come up into your nostrils."</s>PASTOR P.C. ENNISS, TRINITY PRESBYTERIAN: Incline your ear and come to me.</s>CABELL: Presbyterian pastor, P.C. Enniss concedes some wars can be justified, but warns against those who say the Bible endorses war.</s>ENNISS: For every verse or scripture that one can snatch out of context, you can find another verse or scripture that you can take out of context to refute that.</s>CABELL: Christians, he says, must look to Jesus as the interpreter of God's will and Jesus above all was a peacemaker. From the Sermon on the Mount -- "Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God." (on camera): Is there anywhere in the Bible where Jesus condones violence?</s>MERRITT: I don't know that there's anyone in the Bible that Jesus condones violence, but I will take the flip answer to your question. I don't know of any statement that Jesus ever made that would condemn what we would call a just war.</s>CABELL (voice-over): And ultimately, for Christian theologians, the question may be this -- would a war against Saddam Hussein without a direct provocation for the U.S. be considered a just war?</s>MERRITT: It think we need to say about a man like Saddam Hussein, this man is evil. He is the personification of evil.</s>ENNISS: I don't think there's any question about the evil that's in that man. I don't think anybody questions that. It's how to deal with evil.</s>CABELL: There are immutable and absolute answers in the Bible, but when it comes to war, there seems to be ambiguity, even the clergy, at least those who aren't pacifists, will concede that.</s>ENNISS: Speak to us this day your words of mercy.</s>CABELL: Which means the reader of the Bible must interpret for himself. Brian Cabell, CNN, Atlanta.