Who's Christian Peacemakers?

Any civilized human being will sympathize with this statement on the Christian Peacemaker Team's Web site, lamenting the kidnapping of four of their brothers in Iraq:

We were very saddened to see the images of our loved ones on Al Jazeera television recently. We were disturbed by seeing the video and believe that repeated showing of it will endanger the lives of our friends. We are deeply disturbed by their abduction. We pray that those who hold them will be merciful and that they will be released soon. We want so much to see their faces in our home again, and we want them to know how much we love them, how much we miss them, and how anxious and concerned we are by what is happening to them.

Before getting to the next paragraph, which whittles away at my sympathetic reaction, let's pause for some scripture. It appears beside the statement, and it's something of a vision statement for the group:

Matthew 5:43-44 "You have heard that is was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."

Note that Jesus said "Love your enemies." He did not say "Hate your neighbor." In fact, He would have you love both your neighbor and your enemy, but that is lost on the Christian Peacemaker Teams, who say in the second paragraph of their statement:

We are angry because what has happened to our teammates is the result of the actions of the U.S. and U.K. governments due to the illegal attack on Iraq and the continuing occupation and oppression of its people. Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) has worked for the rights of Iraqi prisoners who have been illegally detained and abused by the U.S. government. We were the first people to publicly denounce the torture of Iraqi people at the hands of U.S. forces .... (emphasis added)

Only hate can explain so profound a misstatement of the situation in Iraq, where the US had UN resolutions in hand before going to war, where we've made clear our intent not to be occupiers, where Saddam was the oppressor and we are the liberators, where the Iraqi people are establishing a constitution that gives them more rights than they've every had, and yes, where there are bad guys that need to be detained ... but not tortured.

It is interesting to note that the bio of only one of the four captives, the American Tim Fox, mentions that he is a Christian, specifically a Quaker. The others, Briton Norman Kember and Canadians James Loney and Harmeet Singh Sooden, have bios full of words like activist, pacifist and conflict resolution, but nothing about Christ or church.

The site says the group was "Initiated by Mennonites, Brethren and Quakers with broad ecumenical participation" and mentions a number of other liberal congregations as participants. It's clear they see pacifist activism as a sound way to witness the gospel to others.

But with statements blaming the US and Britain for the capture of their activists, they discredit the gospel. Humility and honesty requires them to say that it is they themselves who are responsible for their capture, and that the terrorists who captured their representatives are far less peaceful and far more in need of the gospel than the American and British troops.