Reverend Gomes Weighs In Against War

From his pulpit in Memorial Church, Plummer Professor of Christian Morals Peter J. Gomes condemned the looming war with Iraq during his Sunday sermon, saying an attack would likely “confirm for all the world to see our country’s reputation as an irrational and undisciplined bully.”

Departing from the usual reserved traditions of church services, the congregation gave Gomes a standing ovation.

Although Gomes said he usually prepares all his sermons during the summer and has a set schedule for the entire academic year, he said he decided last week to scrap his planned sermon.

It “bit the dust” on Wednesday, he said, when he began writing an entirely new address that challenged the Bush administration’s justification for war.

In the new sermon, which he called “Patriotism is Not Enough,” Gomes said an attack on Iraq would lack “moral clarity” and said too much emphasis on patriotism creates “moral silence.”

“Must the first casualty of patriotism always be dissent, debate, and discussion?” he said.

“As a citizen I demand a better excuse than revenge or oil for the prosecution of a war that is likely to do more harm than good,” he said, “that will destabilize not only the region but the world for years to come, and that, worst of all, will confirm for all the world to see our country’s reputation as an irrational and undisciplined bully who acts not because it ought, but because it can. We make up the rules, so it seems, as we please.”

Gomes also drew comparisons to the Vietnam War. The Bush administration’s idea of going to war to keep peace parallels the Vietnam principle “to destroy the village in order to ‘save’ it,” he said.

The sermon drew mixed reactions.

“I felt it was more of a speech than a sermon,” said Tasha C. Bartch ’06, who regularly attends services at Memorial Church. “But people were clapping with a sense of relief that a moral authority had finally spoken.”

Bartch, who is also an ROTC cadet, said Gomes’ sermon made her feel more honored to serve in the military.

“I disagreed with at least one-quarter of what he said,” said Daniel S. Anderson ’06, “but was fascinated by the sermon and thought it was important for him to speak his mind.”