BWA General Council Resolution 1987.1

The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance, meeting in Amman, Jordan, July 5-12, 1987, affirms its belief:

— that all human beings are created by God;

— that human life is sacred and of value to God;

— that hostage taking for any reason makes people commodities for bargaining;

— that each act of hostage taking or other violence feeds a cycle of hostility and makes a mutual desire for peace, justice and reconciliation more difficult to achieve;

— that hostages are often those who have only tried to effect reconciliation. The Council therefore:

l) encourages Baptists everywhere to engage in intercessory prayer for the release of hostages and the resolution of the problems leading to violence;

2) urges member unions and conventions, whenever possible, to appeal through the media to persons of good will to reject violent means of securing good purposes; and

3) appeals to all those holding hostages to recognize that their victims are parents, children, family members in the same way as themselves and to release their hostages in recognition of their common humanity and as an expression of their wish to have their own concerns treated in a similarly just and humane way.

Citations

Original Source Bibliography: Claas, Gerhard, editor. Baptist World Alliance 1987 Yearbook: Minutes of the General Council Meeting and Directory. McLean, VA: Baptist World Alliance, 1987.

Original Source Footnote/Endnote: Gerhard Claas, ed., Baptist World Alliance 1987 Yearbook: Minutes of the General Council Meeting and Directory (McLean, VA: Baptist World Alliance, 1987), p. 59.

Online Document Full Citation: BWA General Council Resolution 1987.1 Hostages; https://baptistworld.org/resolutions.

In-text Online Document Citation: (BWA General Council Resolution 1987.1).