November 10, 2004
by Jerry L. Van Marter

ST. LOUIS - Insurance adjusters and statisticians can readily calculate the financial cost of disasters and wars, Church World Service (CWS) Executive Director John McCullough told the opening session of the joint National Council of Churches/CWS General Assembly here today.

"But more than the loss of property," McCullough said, speaking of the four hurricanes that slammed into Florida in rapid succession this summer, "is the matter of lives turned upside down, and traumatized - perhaps for a lifetime, forever suspicious of strong winds blowing in from the south."

And reflecting on a visit to Iraq earlier this year, McCullough said victims estimate the civilian death toll at 50,000 - triple U.S. government estimates. More importantly, he said, "they detailed the stories of broken and shattered lives, of fractured hopes and dreams. The human drama in disasters should not be distorted by official pronouncements, or by the work of statisticians."

In both situations, humanitarian assistance is absolutely critical but also problematic, McCullough said.

CWS is expert at joining forces with other faith groups and local voluntary organizations to "assure that all who need assistance get it." But invariably, not all who need help get it, and "re-weaving the fabric that will restore communities" is a long-term effort.

Military interventions, such as the Iraq war and the War on Terror "have had a significant impact on CWS programs," McCullough said. "Historically, humanitarian action is fundamentally seen as 'Northern' and 'Western.'

"Unfortunately, the 'war on terror' is perceived by many to represent the same perspective .... This creates confusion about whom and what we represent .... The crises in Afghanistan and Iraq have resulted in a dangerous blurring of the lines between humanitarian and political action and also the consequent erosion of core humanitarian principles of impartiality and independence," he said.

Increasingly, he added, partners such as the Middle East Council of Churches are "challenging churches in America, saying that more than responding to crises as they occur, the churches must strengthen their witness so as to prevent the root causes from ever bursting into conflict."

U.S. churches must ask themselves whether the positions they take "have a definitive bearing on the duality of eradicating hunger and poverty and promoting peace and justice? Do we offer solutions that address the realities of the most vulnerable?"

The task is far more than a numbers game - tons of food shipped, numbers of blankets distributed, numbers of temporary shelters constructed. "More than material possession, it is about the matter of lives turned upside down and traumatized....It's about trying hard to weave the pieces of unity, peace and justice, and hope together," McCullough said. "It's about what we can do as a community of faith to help in the healing process of our otherwise broken and fractured world."

Presbyterian News Service