The debate centred on the issue of the Government’s highly controversial decision to replace the nuclear warheads in spite of the non-proliferation treaty it signed with the United Nations.
The amendment to the ‘Notice of Motion 104 – Ethics of Modern Warfare’ proposed the deletion of a key phrase in the motion that expressed clear opposition to the replacement of the Trident nuclear weapons system.
The proposed amendment was voted down in an overwhelming show of hands at the Conference which opened Saturday in Edinburgh, taking the Conference north of the border for the first time in 200 years.
The debate also coincided with the launch of the joint Methodist-United Reformed Church report ‘Peacemaking: A Christian Vocation’.
A former President of the Conference, the Rev Prof Peter Stephens, had said prior to the debate that he had been opposed to a unilateral case for disarmament but admitted that he was in the minority in a Conference strongly influenced, he said, by the more pacifist stance of the Methodist Peace Fellowship.
And on the day it was the pacifists who won out. The peacekeeping report was presented at the Conference by co-author Steve Hucklesby who warned that “Christianity is not viewed as a benign influence”.“We must look to our own faith with critical eyes,” he warned representatives.
One representative told the Conference during the debate, “It is far too simplistic to say that UK should not consider renewing Trident,” rejecting the notion that if the UK abandoned nuclear deterrents others would do the same.
He added that only with nuclear weapons would “UK have significant influence in international negotiations”.
The Rev Ian Souter, however, seemed to represent the majority of opinion at the Conference when he urged representatives to vote against the motion saying that the funds needed to continue Trident “could be better used to bring peace in our world”.
He added, “I cannot see how mutual fear of mutual destruction can ever be seen as peace.”I cannot see how mutual fear of mutual destruction can ever be seen as peace.
Rev Ian Souter, Methodist Conference representative
Meanwhile Deacon Dr Ronald J Aitchison of the Liverpool District raised the example of the Balkan conflict and the controversial use of cluster bombs.
“How can we see that as peacemaking when it was the peacemakers who dropped the bombs,” he challenged representatives.
Others warned that renewing Trident would place extra strain on the non-proliferation treaty and would encourage other countries to also abandon their commitment to the treaty.
The debate took place against the backdrop of last week’s submission by the Methodist Church to the House of Commons defence select committee which outlined the Church’s opposition to nuclear weapon renewal.
It also follows a briefing paper from Churches Together in Britain and Ireland which calls on Christians to “look at this question afresh”.The peacekeeping report launched at the Conference calls for more funds to be made available by the Connexional Team to support Church members in the task of peacemaking. It also outlines the need for members to be better equipped to work for peace.
It reads: “To achieve progress in non-violent conflict transformation training is essential and adequate resources need to be allocated.”
It continues: “Too often the Church has debated these matters solely within a Christian framework.
“The task of peacemaking today demands that Christians move beyond the entrenched positions to a more broadly-based consensus around the benefits of learning together about non-violent approaches to conflict resolution from the broad spectrum of Christian, other violence and secular reflection and practice.”
