Terry Waite Speaks at Lutheran College

     SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (ELCA) -- When he met with the hostage takers, Terry Waite was blindfolded, his body was searched, his scars were probed and his teeth were examined.  After he was inspected for locating and recording devices, he was given a change of clothing.  Waite endured all this, then he tried to implement peace in Lebanon.
     Waite spoke March 8 at the annual Peace Prize Forum at Augustana College.  The theme was: "Striving for Peace: Science and Ethics in International Affairs."   Waite was kidnapped by Shiite Muslims in Beirut while he was attempting to secure the release of American and European hostages in 1987.  He was held hostage for nearly five years.
     Waite started working against terrorism as an adviser on foreign affairs to the Archbishop of Canterbury, world leader of the Anglican Church.  The church became involved in hostage situations because people had no where to turn, Waite said.
     "Needy people, desperate people came to the church and said, 'Please help,'" Waite said.  "The church had international contacts and the ability to make and develop new contacts, so there was a chance that something could be done on behalf of suffering people," he said.
     Waite encouraged Peace Prize Forum participants to promote and spread the understanding of peace.  The search for peace is a demanding agenda, he said.  "If you agree to help someone, you pick up part of the burden that they are bearing, and you must be prepared to stick with it."
     Waite encouraged people to find hope within their hearts to become peacemakers.  "Enable the weak to be strong and the just to be compassionate," he said.
     According to Waite,  terrorism is a contemporary threat that is becoming more and more evident to those who live in the United States.  "Most people do not understand the devastating destruction of these types of behaviors until it impinges on them," Waite said.
     "Terrorists know that by taking hostages, they will get some power," he said.  "It gives them the ability perhaps to tweak the tail of the mighty United States or to make Europe jump."
     As a hostage negotiator, Waite said he was very vulnerable. He had nothing to give people except the promise that he would work to find a face-saving solution to the problem, a solution that would enable all parties involved in the problem to walk away from the situation with their dignity intact.
     Waite was kept in solitary confinement for almost four years, his arms and legs often chained to the wall.  He was denied sunlight and any news from the outside world.  In captivity, there were times, in fact, most of the time, I wouldn't say that I felt the close presence of God,"  Waite said. "In fact, I felt alone, afraid and vulnerable."
     However, religion did enable him to maintain hope, and hope is an essential ingredient to survival, Waite said.  Hope allowed Waite to understand that his kidnappers could never have total control over him.  "You have the power to break my body," he said.  "You have the power to bend my mind, but my soul is not yours to possess."
     Communication between different countries and different cultures is a necessity, Waite said.  It is important for us to keep the communication channels open so that minority groups and religious organizations are heard and they feel they are generally a part of the community, he said.
     The annual Peace Prize Forum is hosted on a rotating basis by five colleges of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, each sharing Norwegian heritage.  The other participating colleges are Augsburg College, Minneapolis; Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn.; Luther College, Decorah, Iowa; and St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn.
     Other speakers at the event were Dr. Francesco Calogero, 1995 Nobel Laureate, secretary general, Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs and professor of theoretical physics, University of Rome; and Betty A. Reardon, director of the Peace Education Program, Teacher's College, Columbia University, New York; and Joseph Rotblat, London, 1995 Nobel Laureate, physicist and anti-nuclear weapons activist.

     [*Michelle Spence, Moorpark, Calif., is a senior at
     Augustana College, majoring in journalism and
     government/international affairs.]

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