181st General Assembly (1969)
United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America

The United Presbyterian Church does not teach a single response to war, which all members must accept, for God alone is Lord of the conscience, and not the state or church. God is Lord of the conscience of those who, in good faith and sensitive spirit, conclude that military power must sometimes be employed to establish the preconditions for justice, order and freedom. God is also Lord of the conscience of those who conclude that they cannot support military action because they judge either that it is antithetical to order and justice or against the teachings of the gospel.

Both of these—the agonized participant in war and the pacifist who objects to war—can draw equally upon the Church's teachings in support of their position. And it is also clear that a third group-individuals who object to particular wars which they judge to be unjust or unconscionable-are entitled to appeal to the teaching of the Church as the foundation of their moral stand. God is the Lord of conscience, not only of a participant in war for moral reasons, or of the objector to all war on pacifist grounds, but also of those who conclude that a particular conflict is morally unconscionable and indefensible.