It’s sad to say I was glad to see CPT’s report on Iraq after seven years come in my email today. The update, titled "Iraq Reflection: Iraq, After Seven Years of War," by Peggy Gish should be a welcome reminder for everyone. You can read the update here in full, but I’ve quoted some interesting items: - Deaths of an estimated million Iraqi civilians since 2003. (Sept. 2007 poll by [...]
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If you’re a Christian pacifist, no doubt you’ve come across advocates for war who challenge our understanding of the words of Jesus in the Sermon of the Mount (Mt. v-vii or Lk. vi). One challenge in particular has to do with the application of these words from Jesus: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. To [...]
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I recently noticed a short burst of folks on Twitter linking to James White’s blog post, “Ephesians 1:11 and Bible Translation.” When I read Dr. White’s post, I noticed the focus of the post was not on Bible translation, but on a debate he’s engaged in and within the context of that debate his opponent used the Message and the New Living Translation as supports for his denial that this [...]
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As I continue to read and think about the so called Just War theory, I more often question how many Christians who advocate for war actually believe in the Just War theory. Do we see the theory being applied? Are wars being tested by it’s requirements? If a war doesn’t meet a requirement, are Just War theory holders taking a stand against that war? I’m not seeing it. And again, [...]
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But even if they [advocates for war, or the war as needed folks] refuse to hear me, and to respect the restraints they are theoretically committed to [by the requirements of the Just War tradition they promote], I owe it to their dignity as fellow humans, some of whom are fellow Christians, to address them in terms of their moral culture, not only of mine. That readiness to make oneself [...]
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This past weekend into Monday our family has been working on getting our front and side yards into shape for planting. While pulling weeds in the front I uncovered three volunteer squash plants coming up! There are also quite a few volunteer sunflowers and one lovely little marigold. Over the winter I planted Swiss chard, watermelon radishes, and a mix of carrots out in the front. Those are coming up [...]
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The advocate of war cannot say there is no other recourse before weighing nonviolent alternatives. That’s from chapter 7 of John Howard Yoder’s The War of the Lamb: The Ethics of Nonviolence and Peacemaking, edited by Glen Stassen, Mark Thiessen Nation, and Matt Hamsher. Not that the quotation is a summary of the book itself, or the climax; I have been meditating on the sentence for a while, following where [...]
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