WASHINGTON — As government entities debate national security, the
religious community should make their voice heard, according to Florida
Conference Bishop Timothy W. Whitaker.
Whitaker made the statement during a Nov. 6 telephone interview with
the Florida Conference Edition of the United Methodist Review while
attending the semiannual Council of Bishops meeting here Nov. 2-7.
“When the government starts talking about security, we need to say
what it is we believe about God,” Whitaker said. “This conversation
needs to take place from a Biblical perspective.”
Nearly 112 active and retired bishops from around the world attended
the gathering, according to a recent United Methodist News Service (UMNS)
article by Tim Tanton.
The Council of Bishops voted Nov. 4 to present a paper on security
titled “In Search of Security: An Invitation to a Conversation” that
will be written by Bishop Walter Klaiber of Germany and presented at the
bishops’ meeting next spring.
Whitaker, who is serving as convener of the bishops’ “In Search of
Security” Task Force, said once the paper is completed every bishop
could arrange to have a discussion in his or her area about the issue of
security and possibly get other communities of faith involved.
“Throughout the globe there is a deep concern about security in an
era of terrorism,” Whitaker told UMNS. He said the people of the United
States of America are preoccupied with the issue of security, and
whenever the most powerful nation on earth is preoccupied with an issue,
the rest of the nations have to be preoccupied with that issue.
“I think we need to seek the Holy Spirit as we pray and discern where
we proceed to next,” Whitaker said. “We are seeking individual, as well
as corporate, illumination.”
The final outcome of the conversation is open ended, Whitaker said.
He said the council might decide to authorize publication of a major
study on security that would be released to the church or approve
joining with other denominations in releasing such a study to the public
and policy makers.
“We think it would be extremely significant if United Methodists
across the United States and around the globe were involved in a
conversation about the search for security in light of the biblical
witness of faith in God,” Whitaker told UMNS.
In those conversations people would reflect on the validity of
phrases such as “war on terrorism,” Whitaker said in a written report.
They would also discuss global public policies regarding terrorism,
“such as the storage and development of weapons of mass destruction by
nation-states of the West and the national security strategy of the
United States.”
“We think it would be morally irresponsible for the Christian
community to be silent while security is being defined in terms that do
not take into account the perspective of faith or that may be
contradictory to the perspective of faith,” Whitaker told the bishops as
he presented the report.
He said Christians should not be silent.
“It is time now that we begin having a thoughtful conversation about
these issues,” he said. “When we are talking about these issues, we need
to be of witness to the scripture in which it says nations are commanded
to put their faith in God.”
Whitaker said the United Methodist Board of Church and Society is
also working on a paper on terrorism, which will be helpful to the
bishops. The Council of Bishops paper will have a broader scope and will
relate to the dialogue that is occurring around the world on terrorism,
he told UMNS.
“When we are talking about the meaning of security, we are talking
about faith,” Whitaker said. “Christians should be talking about
security because as people of faith we depend on God for our security.”
Bishop Whitaker said people of
faith depend on God for security.