Washington, DC – The National Black Church Initiative (NBCI), a faith-based coalition of 34,000 churches comprised of 15 denominations and 15.7 million African Americans, calls the continuous war in Syria, completely unholy in every respect. This designation underscores the seriousness of this perplexing war and the reason why it is so unholy. The war has reached a point where so many deaths have occurred that there are approximately over 400,000 deaths associated with this war.
The issue of President Assad staying or leaving is largely irrelevant. The killings are unconscionable. There are greater issues at hand. We cannot call ourselves a civilized society anymore as we sit back and allow the innocent and those who have no arms, those who are in hospitals, to be slaughtered at will by the American proxy army, President Assad and the first century war fare of the Russian weapon systems being unleashed on Syria. It boggles the mind that two super powers cannot bring an end to this bloody civil war that has raged on for the past 5 years. Where is the United Nations? Where is the international religious leadership? Why is Russia doing what it is doing and why do the United States seem so impudent in bringing any sort of negotiated settlement to this crisis?
Rev. Anthony Evans, President of the National Black Church Initiative says, “On July of 2012, the National Black Church Initiative staged a protest in front of the Syrian embassy to decry the killings of the innocent. Four years later the killing has continued worse than it has been in any other war according to the Aleppo doctors. This is why we are moved by the Holy Spirit and our 34,000 Christian churches across this country to plead with both President Obama and the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, to use their influence to stop the killing in Aleppo and adhere to the principles set forth by the Aleppo doctors in Christ’s name.”
This is why we are speaking out in support of the Aleppo doctor’s statement, “We have seen no effort on behalf of the United States to lift the siege or even use its influence to push the parties to protect civilians. Continued U.S. inaction to protect the civilians of Syria means that our plight is being willfully tolerated by those in the international corridors of power. The burden of responsibility for the crimes of the Syrian government and its Russian ally must therefore be shared by those, including the United States, who allow them to continue.”
We are calling upon the United Nations to bring Russia and the United states together with President Assad and any other proxy that has issues with what is occurring in Syria. We have one message to them all. The killing must stop and it must stop now. The National Black Church Initiative and the doctors are in full agreement that four things have to happen:
1) That the United States and Russia is the cause of all this killing and therefore have sufficient political and military strength to put an end to the bloodshed
2) There must be a 6 month ceasefire and there must be a safety zone whereby the doctors can treat the injured without fear of a bomb being rained upon their heads
3) That the United State and Russia would offer immediate humanitarian aid in terms of food stuff, medicine, supplies and anything else needed to bring a peaceful resolution to this crisis
4) President Assad must answer the question, is it worth being President of a country in chaos where all of your citizens are dying in front of your eyes. When is enough, enough? We urge you to do something about it. You simply cannot continue to kill the doctors and the patients in the hospitals because they find themselves on the wrong side of the road
