Land letter

The Land letter was a letter sent to U.S. President George W. Bush by five evangelical Christian leaders on October 3, 2002, outlining their theological support for a just war pre-emptive invasion of Iraq. The letter was written by Richard D. Land, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. It was co-signed by:

* Chuck Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship Ministries
* Bill Bright, chairman of Campus Crusade for Christ
* James Kennedy, president of Coral Ridge Ministries, and
* Carl D. Herbster, president of the American Association of Christian Schools

The letter asserted that a pre-emptive invasion of Iraq met the criteria of traditional 'just war' theory because:
* such an action would be "defensive"
* the "intent" is found to be just and noble. The United States does not intend to 'destroy, conquer, or exploit Iraq'
* it is a "last resort" because Saddam Hussein had a record of attacking his neighbors, of the 'headlong pursuit and development of biochemical and nuclear weapons of mass destruction' and their use against his own people, and harboring al-Qaeda terrorists
* it is authorized by a "legitimate authority", namely the United States
* it has "limited goals"
* it has "reasonable expectation of success"
* "non-combatant" immunity would be observed
* it meets the criteria of "proportionality"—the human cost on both sides would be justified by the intended outcome

See also

Religious opposition to the Iraq War.

External links

* [http://erlc.com/ Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission homepage]
* [http://erlc.com/article/the-so-called-land-letter Text of the Land letter]