Tom Fox Found Dead

Tom Fox, a Quaker and a member of the Christian Peacemaker Team was found dead yesterday in Iraq.  My only connection to him is in the Spirit of God, but he stands as a hero in my mind and one who lived out the call of the Gospel to be salt and light to the world and display love to our enemies.

A simple prayer:
1. God I pray that you would give a peace to the Fox family.
2. I also pray that you would enable the Christian Peacemaker Team to succeed in their mission and also to bring back those still alive in Iraq safely.
3. Bring this senseless war to an end.  Amen.

I appreciate the words of Tom Fox and the CPTs,

In response to Tom’s passing, we ask that everyone set aside inclinations to vilify or demonize others, no matter what they have done. In Tom’s own words: “We reject violence to punish anyone. We ask that there be no retaliation on relatives or property. We forgive those who consider us their enemies. We hope that in loving both friends and enemies and by intervening nonviolently to aid those who are systematically oppressed, we can contribute in some small way to transforming this volatile situation.???

Here is their statement of conviction

As a peacemaking team we need to cross boundaries, help soldiers and other armed actors be humane, and invite them to refuse unjust orders. We need to help preserve what is human in all of us and so offer glimpses of hope in a dark time.

Here is a statement by Tom Fox on “Why Are We Here????

If I understand the message of God, his response to that question is that we
are to take part in the creation of the Peaceable Realm of God. Again, if I
understand the message of God, how we take part in the creation of this
realm is to love God with all our heart, our mind and our strength and to
love our neighbors and enemies as we love God and ourselves. In its
essential form, different aspects of love bring about the creation of the
realm.

And Also,

“Why are we here???? We are here to root out all aspects of dehumanization
that exist within us. We are here to stand with those being dehumanized by
oppressors and stand firm against that dehumanization. We are here to stop
people, including ourselves, from dehumanizing any of God’s children, no
matter how much they dehumanize their own souls.

Information taken from the Christian Peacemaker Teams Site.

And this is an email from a good friend in my small group (and how I found out about Fox),

Dear Friends,

Tom Fox, a member of Christian Peacemaker Teams, has been found dead in Iraq.  His body was found this morning.  Tom and four other members of Christian Pacemaker Teams were kidnapped late last year.

Some of you have heard me speak of this kidnapping in recent months.  This is the organization I traveled to Israel/Palestine with several summers ago.  Although I did not know Tom personally, the news of his death is close to my heart and also to many others that have been involved with Christian Peacemaker Teams.

I continue to pray for all prisoners of war in Iraq and Guantamano Bay.  Tom’s death personalizes the war for me in a way I have not faced until right now.  Many are in captivity, many are still being killed.  Several years into this conflict, I still just can’t believe it.  All the families and friends involved with all those that lay victim to this conflict are in great need of redemption.  Tom and his friends sought to cause that redemption to happen.

The news is all over the web as this is going out.  You may also want to examine the statement made today by Christian Peacemaker Teams:  http://www.cpt.org/.

With prayerful sincerity, John

Technorati Tags: activism, Christian Peacemaking Teams, nonviolence, Quakers, Tom Fox