Tom Fox, whose body was found last month in Baghdad.
Fox, 54, was one of four kidnapped workers of the Canada and US-based Christian Peacemaker Teams, an international conflict resolution organization. His three colleagues, Canadians James Loney, 41, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 33, and Briton Norman Kember, 74, were freed in a joint US-British military operation north of Baghdad on March 23, ending a near three-month ordeal.
The previously unknown Swords of Righteousness Brigades claimed responsibility for kidnapping the four workers, who disappeared November 26. Military officials have said that Fox’s body was discovered March 9, near a west Baghdad railway line with gunshot wounds to his head and chest. Fox had been on a mission to build "bridges of peace" and investigate alleged abuses against prisoners and help their families, CPT said.
"Tom had been working with CPT for almost two years. As part of the CPT team, Tom had been documenting and exposing abuse of the human rights of Iraqis illegally detained by US led forces, supporting the work of Iraqi organizations devoted to nonviolent alternatives to conflict, and giving voice to ordinary Iraqis suffering under continuing war," CPT added in a statement to BosNewsLife.
AGAPE
In a letter the day before his kidnapping, November 26, Fox meditated on the Bible’s vision of love, and made it clear he was against revenge against anyone, including those who harmed him. "I have read that the word in the Greek Bible that is translated as "love" is the word ‘agape’. Again, I have read that this word is best expressed as a profound respect for all human beings simply for the fact that they are all God’s children," he said in the letter released by CPT.
"[However] I would state that idea [of agape] in a somewhat different way, ‘as never thinking or doing anything that would dehumanize one of my fellow human beings’," he added.
Fox expressed concern over the “many innocent Iraqis” who he said were among those killed in the hunt for terrorists. "We are here to stand with those being dehumanized by oppressors and stand firm against that dehumanization," Fox wrote about what he saw as his mission in Iraq. "We are here to stop people, including ourselves, from dehumanizing any of God’s children, no matter how much they dehumanize their own souls," Fox explained.
Not everyone agreed with Fox’s opinions on the war in Iraq, including US and British officials. However his work also received praise from people with different political and religious backgrounds. Sunday’s memorial service at 7:00 PM local time at Toronto’s Metropolitan United Church was to begin with candle lighting, CPT said. Other memorial services are scheduled in the US in Virginia and Washington, DC. Dates and venues for these services have not yet been finalized, CPT added. (With BosNewsLife Research and reports from Iraq and Canada).
