Attack on Iraq, Part II:
...How the Brethren feel about it

There appears to be mixed feelings on campus regarding our nation's participation on war against Iraq and its leader Saddam Hussein.

Some students and professors have chosen to side with the president's appeal to go forward without reservation.

Even without the support of the United Nations, George W. Bush has a right to declare that the United States should take on military actions based on a presumed, but not imminent, threat. Others, especially those involved with the Church of the Brethren, whose values still have a presence on campus, doubt war against one nation, or what has more recently seemed like a war against one man, could amount to anything but destruction and loss of life.

The University of La Verne was founded on the Church of the Brethren principles, encouraging students and faculty to abstain from any war efforts. Although most members of the church uphold these peace principles, the passage of time has brought some more hawkish American mainstream thinking into younger Brethren congregates.

Many young church members find themselves caught between following the ways of their religion or their zealous patriotism. Often these students lean toward the side of fighting for a cause that sometimes is not easy to understand. The church has changed in recent years and its numbers have diminished. Founded in Germany, the Church of the Brethren's influence was brought to ULV after a group of ministers saw a prospective hotel site (the area now inhabited by Wilson Library and Landis Academic Center) for sale in 1889. The church's principles mainly revolved around opposition to war and participation in war and later influenced the way dorm life, etiquette and curriculum would evolve into later years.

Although the church's stance did not see any major effects in previous war years (only few faculty members and students were ever drafted), the pending war could profoundly affect the campus community. How will church members, as well as other students and faculty, react to a war that is just around the corner? What would they say if they were drafted themselves? More importantly, what would peace church members do if they could not fight off the draft?

There appears to be a defined divider between shared opinions dealing with the threat of war. Mixed feelings result in doubt and fear - two emotions that may put the United States in danger. There are no solutions to bringing a common standpoint for many teachers and students; religion and personal beliefs play a big role in influencing what opinions are made. And unless students, faculty and the United States in general unite underneath the grief caused by last year's events, we may be too vulnerable enough to be struck again.

Either we throw Bush aside to bring peace back to our homes, minds and hearts, or we go along with him and allow another dictator to lead willing and unwilling participants alike into a war of death and terror.

Who is the terrorist now? Certainly not the suspicious Hussein; it is Bush and those who choose to fight and again join the cycle of killing innocent people. After all, perhaps there is no need for a war; Bush can more than likely keep his country safe by killing off his enemy himself. Let it be a duel, not a war.