We call on all Americans to join in fasting from dawn to dusk on Monday, October 8, to call for an end to the Iraq War. On this day, people of faith in local communities across our nation will act as catalysts to transform the meaning of the day from one of conquest to community and from violence to reverence.Just as Isaiah called the People Israel to hear the Yom Kippur fast as God’s call to feed the hungry, just as Jesus fasted in the wilderness, just as Christians through Lenten fasting and Muslims through Ramadan fasting have focused on spiritual transformation, just as Mohandas Gandhi, Cesar Chavez and others drew on fasting to change the course of history, so we call on all our communities of faith to draw now on fasting as a path toward inner spiritual transformation and outward social transformation.Ending this war can become the first step toward a policy that embodies a deeper, broader sense of generosity and community at home and in the world.

Rev. Robert Edgar
Former General Secretary
National Council of Churches USA		 Rabbi Arthur Waskow
The Shalom Center
Dr. Sayyid M. Syeed
National Director
Islamic Society of North America		 Rev. Michael Livingston
President
National Council of Churches USA
Rabbi Shirley Idelson
Dean
Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion		 Mary Ellen McNish
General Secretary
American Friends Service
Committee
Rev. William Sinkford
President
Unitarian Universalist Association
of Congregations		 Dr. Tarunjit Singh Butalia
Moderator
Religions for Peace, USA
Nihad Awad
Executive Director
Council on American Islamic Relations		 Rev. John H. Thomas
General Minister and President
United Church of Christ
Rt. Rev. C. Christopher Epting
Deputy for Ecumenical and
Interfaith Relations
The Episcopal Church
 Bishop Gabino Zavala
Bishop President
Pax Christi USA: Catholic
Peace Movement


Please see the complete list of endorsers by clicking the link “Endorsements” at the top of this page.

Please attend to the following request urgently. We need people in local communities around the United States and in other parts of the world to engage in this fast to seek an end to the war in Iraq. Please take the initiative right now to join with other religious communities in your local neighborhood to organize events such as candlelight vigils, teach-ins and public demonstrations for Oct 7th night and the 8th. Make sure you invite public officials to those events to impress upon them the need to end the war in Iraq. You should feel free to add to or adjust the emphasis according to the needs of your community. At the end of the day on the 8th, come together as an interfaith community for a joint celebration for breaking the fast (iftar).

For organizing strategies, please see: Organizing Toolkit

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