Blessed are the peacemakers

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Reflecting the national divide over the war in Iraq, a Glenwood Springs church has decided that Cindy Sheehan is not welcome to speak there.

The decision sends organizers scrambling for another local speaking venue for the anti-war mother of a soldier who died in Iraq.

Sheehan, who has garnered much media attention after camping out near Bush’s vacation home in Crawford, Texas, had been scheduled to speak at the First United Methodist Church in downtown Glenwood Sept. 16.

The church’s administrative advisory council voted Thursday evening against letting Sheehan appear there.

Church member Dean Moffatt, who had helped arrange to let Sheehan speak at the facility, expressed disappointment over the church’s decision.

“Our church should be for peace and for an open dialogue for discussing issues that affect us all, and hearing things firsthand. We should be an open society and continue to strive for that,” Moffatt said.

He blamed a “neoconservative” group within the church for the decision to turn away Sheehan.

“They ignore the fact that she’s a mother of a fallen soldier, a grieving person. They buy into the conservative media and the talk shows and the conspiracies — you know, that she’s a front for various organizations, etc. It’s a real threatening thing, and they completely forget the Bible, they completely forget what our faith is based upon, and they react and this is what’s happened.”