The Seventh-day Adventist Church’s United Nations liaison director reacted October 1 to the adoption of an anti-terrorism resolution by the United Nations.

“The unity of the international community in taking action to ‘prevent and suppress’ terrorist acts is surely appreciated by all,” said Jonathan Gallagher, who works in the public affairs and religious liberty department of the Adventist world headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, United States. “We too are ‘deeply concerned by the increase, in various regions of the world, of acts of terrorism motivated by intolerance or extremism,’ as the resolution states.

“The Adventist Church has consistently stood for values of compassion, toleration, and the need for unity in the family of humanity, following the principles of non-violence as taught by Jesus Christ,” he added. “We join with all people of good faith in expressing our horror at all acts of extreme violence, especially those carried out on the innocent and defenseless.”

Gallagher said the tragedy of terrorism is compounded by attempts to use religion to justify violent acts.

The legally binding Security Council resolution calls on all nations to cut off funding and support for terrorist networks, to deny safe havens to terrorists, and to prevent the movement of individuals and groups suspected of terrorist connections. A Security Council committee is also being established to monitor compliance by nation states as they “take all necessary steps in order to ensure the implementation of this resolution.”