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As East Bay residents turn to their faith for support, leaders of different religious congregations are dealing with questions of how a just God could permit last week’s terrorist acts in New York and Washington, D.C. and whether war is the correct response.  

Father Gary Kyraicou, of the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Ascension in Oakland, said he tries to communicate the notion of free will to his parishioners. God, he said, is not to blame because God has granted each human the ability to choose right from wrong.  

“Unfortunately, some have chosen to do evil,” Kyraicou said.  

Kyraicou also said free will motivates him to argue against war. He tells his congregation of 1,700 families that Americans must understand why people are angry with the United States. “In reflecting on it,” he asks, “how much good could we do if we poured billions of dollars into a peace plan? Let’s return a good for an evil.” 

To answer what to do next, Debbie Whaley, Associate Pastor for Congressional Care of the First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley, said her essential message is to use caution and restraint. When considering whether to engage in war, she tells members of her 2,000-person congregation to think hard.  

“We believe that life is sacred and that there are no throw-away people,” she said. “Let’s be cautious. We don’t always see things clearly.”  

Though justice is important, she said, our leaders must act with caution. U.S. citizens and leaders must consider the country’s role in engendering hate, and use “sober reflection to see these events from a global perspective.”  

She said she also asks the church members for a “call to prayer for leaders to exert wisdom and restraint.” 

On the other hand, Rabbi Yehuda Ferris of Chabad House in Berkeley, said that war is justified now. “There is a concept of war in the bible,” Ferris said. “This would be a war of defense.” 

Rabbi Stuart Kelman of Netivot Shalom, a 350-family synagogue in Berkeley, said he was not yet thinking about the larger question because he was still recovering from the trauma of ensuring that his own family was safe. One member escaped from the World Trade Center.  

Although some wars have been justified, he said, right now his focus is trying to support his congregation. 

“My task is to provide comfort to people who are deeply hurting,” Kelman said. 

To those people, he offers a similar message as Kyraicou’s: God did not let the bombings happen; people did. “God gave us a phenomenal gift,” Kelman said, “the gift of choice.”  

The question of how a benevolent God could allow for absurd, evil things, he said, “it’s a question asked for thousands of years.”