There were dozens of people in a bleak group. It's a very specific look, one you will find only outside the Baghdad morgue.
Cover Story
Celeste Zappala 6-01-2007
I am Celeste Zappala, of the First United Methodist Church of Germantown in Philadelphia, of Military Families Speak Out, and, sadly, of Gold Star Families Speak Out, because I am the mother of a f
Colin Mathewson 6-01-2007
No one person, and yet seemingly every person in on the planning of this event, was in charge.
Khristine Hopkins 6-01-2007
Though I have stood weekly at a vigil for the last five years, been in several marches, and even participated in civil disobedience, I have never had the opportunity to do direct action in an inten
Bill Wylie-Kellermann 6-01-2007
Ambassadors. I'm a sometimes preacher, these days a Methodist holding forth among an Episcopal congregation in Detroit.
Bob Francis 6-01-2007
I WATCHED FOR MONTHS as many of my coworkers devoted themselves to preparation for the Christian Peace Witness, including weeks of negotiation for the civil disobedience.
Helen LaKelly Hunt 6-01-2007
Rollercoaster feelings all around began with the storming weather that day. While it kept many away, for those gathered in the National Cathedral it seemed to enhance the energy of the evening.
Jenny Duskey 6-01-2007
I was born just before the United States entered World War II, and I've been participating in peace walks and vigils since the war in Vietnam. This was one of the best organized and deeply felt.
Jim King 6-01-2007
Walking beside me was our 15-year-old son, David, and Odess Monsanje, from Zambia, who is living with us for a year.
Laurel Mathewson 6-01-2007
As we stepped out of the cathedral, wind blew snow from the rooftops, past the lit windows of the Cotswold-like cottage beside the cathedral.
Larisa Friesen 6-01-2007
From my seat in the balcony in the National Cathedral, I realized that the crowd I saw numbered nearly the same as the number of American soldiers who had fallen in the last four years.
Phyllis Taylor 6-01-2007
As a Jewish person in this Christian peace witness, I felt affirmed and welcomed by the other participants.
Amy Yarnell 6-01-2007
The depth of my sorrow for the loss of life on all sides seems beyond expression.
Raphael G. Warnock 6-01-2007
Whenever there are billions of dollars and then billions more available to bomb Baghdad, but never enough to rebuild New Orleans, an American city, parts of which still look like a Third World coun
Rose Marie Berger 4-01-2007
Pattie Steib / Shutterstock
WHEN DISASTER STRIKES, churches—from the conservative Southern Baptist Convention to the liberal United Church of Christ—are among the first to respond. However, as Katrina so painfully revealed, churches and charities—no matter how much they give—can't build levees (though neither, apparently, can the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers).
Many faith-based disaster relief agencies are using 9/11 and Katrina as stark comparisons of how government should—and shouldn't—respond to disasters. A May 2006 Urban League report highlighted the differences: "The state response was strong after September 11, and the nonprofit sector tried to work alongside the government as well as fill in the gaps the government left behind, both short and long term. With Katrina, in contrast, the immediate state response was weak, and the nonprofit sector had neither the organizational structure nor the resources to meet immediate needs."
In disaster relief, efficient, well-organized faith-based organizations work best as an adjunct to a strong, responsive, and accountable state.
