Interview with Rev. Boyle by GodSaidWhat.org

Reverend Frederick Boyle is a modern day male “Antigone” figure who, on the eve of the 2003 United States military invasion of Iraq, risked a substantial prison sentence, defying the Government by flying to Iraq and explaining, as best he could to the people there, that not all Americans supported the invasion of their country. Reverend Boyle, in addition to being a courageous peace activist, is also a pastor, composer, computer programmer, and author.

Q1 – Can you briefly explain to the reader what happened and how the government violated your First and Fifth Amendment rights?

A - In February 2003, I flew to Amman, Jordan and then traveled into and around Iraq with a Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) so that we could pray with the Iraqi people who were about to suffer the consequences of another violent military invasion by the United States and its allies. While in Iraq, we visited churches, mosques, the World Health Organization, hospitals, and the homes of people in Baghdad, Mosul, and several small rural villages. In each place we visited we told the people that not all Americans supported the invasion of Iraq, and that we were deeply saddened by the thoughts of the pain and suffering our country was planning to inflict on innocent people. We listened to their fears, and prayed with them for peace.

Previous to, during, and following my ministry in Iraq there was a significant amount of media coverage. Most of the response was very negative; accusing me of being a traitor and an unpatriotic citizen. It was this media coverage that came to the attention of the Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) which is a division within the Treasury Department of the US government. OFAC then sent me a letter informing me that I had violated Iraqi sanctions that prohibited US citizens from traveling to Iraq. They demanded that I send them documentation concerning my travel to Iraq, and informed me that I was subject to a $10,000 fine and a criminal penalty of up to twelve (12) years in prison. The letter from OFAC was clear in stating that I was guilty of violating the sanctions, and that there was no opportunity for a hearing or appeal.

I sought legal council from several sources before responding to the letter from OFAC because it seemed to me that admitting anything to the government without a trial was fundamentally wrong as an American citizen. The ACLU in New York and New Jersey, and the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law took on the case to argue the unconstitutionality of the Iraqi sanctions, and the violation of 1st and 5th Amendment rights to me as a US citizen.

The 1st Amendment violation stems from the fact that I was the only person on several CPT delegations that traveled to Iraq during the period of the Iraqi sanctions that was ever contacted by OFAC. There is strong evidence that I was singled out because of the media coverage of my travel. In this coverage, I was correctly quoted as being avidly opposed to the military invasion of Iraq by the United States. The selective prosecution based on opposition to government policy was argued successfully in a US District court in New York.

In addition to a violation of my freedom of speech, lawyers from the ACLU and Brennan Center for Justice also argued successfully that OFAC was impinging on my freedom as an ordained clergy to practice my ministry wherever I was led by my religious convictions.

The 5th Amendment violation is that, according to all communication I received from OFAC, I was never given an opportunity to defend myself in court. The only response OFAC offered me was self-incrimination so that they could levy civil and criminal penalties against me.

Q2 - You bravely risked up to twelve years in federal prison by making your February- March 2003 trip to Iraq in protest of the pending invasion. What did you learn, and what would you have us learn, from your experience?

A - The personal lessons for me are far too numerous to list here. There are lessons about the betrayal of friends and the ability of a government to manipulate people with fear; and there are lessons about the commonality we have with people half way around the world who just want to live in peace, feel safe in their homes, and provide for their family.

I think, though, that the most profound lesson I learned through this entire ordeal has been that when we experience in our heart a call from God to be the voice of “Other” in the world, we must respond and we will be sustained by our faith. In 2003, when I spoke out against the Iraq war and responded to a spiritual impulse to pray with people whose lives were about to exchange the oppression by Saddam Hussein with the egregious consequences of war, the angry militant voice of the American people sought to suppress all other options. “Other” voices for restraint; “Other” voices for diplomacy; “Other” voices for UN inspections; “Other’ voices for any option other than war; were all silenced by government agencies and the hoodwinked media. Even the voice of “Other” was drowned out by a government that perceived it could gain its nefarious goals best by shouting fear.

God never told Abraham, Moses, Jeremiah, Paul, or Israel exactly where they were being sent – God just said “go, and I will take care of you.” While traveling in the wilderness, the people of God found their faith. They struggled and rebelled many times, but each time they remembered who and whose they were, and called upon “Other” to deliver them from their internal and external enemies, God provided the strength and provisions to prevail.

More than anything else, my Iraq journey taught me the meaning of Biblical wilderness and the certainty that God will provide and deliver all who go there. It has been said that we will forget the words of our enemies, but not the silence of our friends. Nor will we ever forget the voice of God that comforts and heals us when we have the courage to venture into the wilderness to which we are SENT.

Q3 - Under what circumstances, if any, would you go to war in order to defend your definition of God?

A - I draw my definition of God from two succinct definitions of God in Scripture; first, God’s own: “I AM”; and secondly, the Apostle John’s “God is love”. I find nothing in the combination of these two definitions that sanctions violence against human life, and I am suspect of any potential human reasoning that uses Scripture to proof-text a reason to go to war.

When Jesus was asked, “what is the greatest commandment?” he responded, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. And a second is like it,” Jesus said, “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Hence, firstly, we do not express a true love of God with violence, even with a mistaken idea that God needs our defense (God certainly does not need our violent defense). Secondly, we cannot love ourselves as our neighbors by violently killing them. Suicide is a sin.

The short answer to this question is, “never”.

Q4 - Pastor Boyle, what would you say is the kindest, most positive thing we can do as human beings to help assure a less dangerous, more benign planetary future?

A – At the risk of being simplistic (even though most of our trouble stems from our complexity), I have a profound faith in prayer. In prayer, we discover our unity with God, our mutual dependence on God, and a deep gratitude for all that God has created and is creating. In prayer, we discover that the love God has for all of creation removes all distinctions between me and thee.

In prayer, we discover that the love God has for us is shared with all of heaven and earth. In prayer, we discover that any act of violence is directed at something God loves, and only an insane person inflicts violence against God’s love.

The short answer to this question is thus, “Pray, pray, pray.”