Category Archives: Politics

David Clough and Brian Stiltner. Faith and Force: A Christian Debate About War

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David L.Clough and Brian Stiltner. Faith and Force: A Christian Debate About War. Georgetown University Press, 2007.

A timely and interesting book. Clough is a British Methodist pacifist; Stiltner an American Catholic non-pacifist. They are friends and have gathered the results of a debate they had with one another over the moral acceptability of war, especially in the context of the U.S. and British war on Iraq.

I highly recommend it, not so much because either writer is necessarily extraordinarily able in presenting his views but because of their honest, respectful, and detailed give and take. They perform a great service in showing how the arguments supporting both pacifism and the acceptability of war might be challenged.  In most writing on this topic, you have one side or the other, allowing writers to evade the hard challenges.

Of course, as a pacifist, I prefer Clough’s presentation. But both writers make many good points and represent their viewpoints ably.

My biggest criticism would be that they treat the just war position mostly as the view that war should be prevented or even abolished. This is the view of some in that camp, most notably the American Catholic Bishops in their 1983 letter The Challenge of Peace. However, the view that war should be restrained (which is much more favorable concerning the moral acceptability of warfare) is not presented as being in the mainstream of the just war tradition–even though this is the view of several of the most important just war theorists (e.g., James Turner Johnson, Paul Ramsey, William T. O’Brien, probably John Courtney Murray).

In this way, the distance between pacifism and just war thought comes across as much less than if the restraint view were considered as the determinative view in the just war tradition. That is, the common ground these writers affirm may give a false impression that the differences in the “Christian debate about war” might be more amenable to resolution than is actually the case.

I am coming to suspect that the “just war” view is actually quite unstable. Those in the just war school who believe in preventing war are being pushed ever closer to pacifism. Those in the just war school who affirm restraining war (that is, making war more moral and therefore more acceptable) end up being very close to what I would call the “blank check” view (that when it comes to war, citizens essentially give their governments a blank check). 

So perhaps Stiltner may be moving closer to pacifism, but he does not represent the just war position as a whole, only one important strand within it.

Naomi Wolf. The End of America

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Naomi Wolf. The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot. Chelsea Green Publishing, 2007.

I found many things to like about this book, a best-seller written by a leading American feminist social critic. Wolf presents her polemic against American social and political trends in recent years as reflecting her one “conservative” (as in affirming the democratic traditions pioneered in the U.S. and reflected in our Constitution and Bill of Rights). She sees herself in the long tradition of dissent against oppressive government dating back to colonial days, especially evoking Thomas Paine.

Wolf gives us a clear and carefully thought through portrayal of how recent trends in our country, when looked at carefully, put us clearly on the road to fascism–this is a persuasive argument, I think. Her writing is accessible, well-reasoned, logical, and passionate.

I also like how Wolf, already a very prominent figure and sure of selling a lot of books, chose to publish with a truly independent publisher rather than making money for the very corporations that are underwriting our journey away from democracy.

I haven’t read any of Wolf’s reflections following the election of Barack Obama to the presidency. I would expect she would draw some hope from that election–our democracy may still have some vitality. But I would hope she would also raise some strong words of caution. We are far from out of the woods. The temptations facing Obama to live too comfortably with the perks of the imperial presidency will be powerful. Citizens must sustain, even heighten, their efforts to make sure we decisively turn from the path toward fascism.

Robert S. McElvaine. Grand Theft Jesus

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Robert S. McElvaine. Grand Theft Jesus: The Hijacking of Religion in America. Crown Publishers, 2008.

For people like myself, practicing Christians horrified at the general image of Christianity as a violent, intolerant, right-wing religion widespread in our culture, this book comes as a kind of relief. McElvaine is a professor of history at a Bible Belt church-related college (Millsaps in Jackson, Mississippi). His basic argument, presented in a lively, in-your-face style, is that the Christian Right in America has profoundly corrupted the basic Christian message and needs to be called to account.

The author is a political and theological liberal, but places himself in the mainstream of biblical Christianity. He names names and minces few words in his harsh critique. He is not so much setting out to find common ground and persuade those on the Right to moderate their views as to rally the troops among Progressive Christians and to help those outside the churches to see a different perspective on the core values of Christianity.

I find myself quite sympathetic with McElvaine’s basic perspective. I like his constructive suggestions and agree with just about all of his criticisms. And I think it is good and important to have such criticisms. At times his take no prisoners style made me smile, but mostly I did find it a bit off-putting. Maybe it’s good to have someone write such an attention-getting polemic, but one wonders a bit whether such bitter sarcasm is fully consistent with McElvaine’s portrayal of Christianity as a faith centered on love. I don’t think Christ-like love is incompatible with sharp criticism, but I do miss a more compassionate, gentle sensibility that probably would have actually made the critique more powerful.

If you are unhappy with the general portrayal of Christianity in cahoots with the political Right in 21st century America and you don’t feel like you know enough about those who presence has set the tone for this portrayal, this would be a good book to read. And for many of us, it may serve as an encouragement to do something about this portrayal.

A pacifist’s analysis of just war thought

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Here is a paper describing and critiquing just war thought. Although the term “just war theory” is widely used as if it characterizes the views of war held by most people, including most Christians, not that many people are actually very conversant with the details of this position. This paper, written about 20 years ago, tries to describe and critically interact with a number of the important just war thinkers of the 20th century include Paul Ramsey, James Turner Johnson, and William O’Brien.

I wrote this critique as a pacifist, but worked hard to be objective and descriptive rather than simply dismissive. I hope it’s a discussion that would be illuminating to anyone regardless of their own views. One point I emphasize is the significant difference between two types of just war thought–what I call “realism” and “nuclear pacifism.” I would now probably prefer the term “preventivism” over “nuclear pacifism” because the heart of this perspective is the intention to use just war reasoning to prevent all kinds of war, perhaps even to abolish war.

Though in some ways the essay is dated, especially with regard to the importance of the Soviet Union in these discussions 20 years ago, I believe the analysis remains relevant. Certainly, the issues related to just war thought remain central in our world today.

Bob Goudzwaard. Idols of Our Time

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Bob Goudzwaard. Idols of Our Time. InterVarsity Press, 1984.

This short book, written nearly three decades ago, though dated in many ways, offers an insightful analysis of modern Western culture and its challenges to authentic Christian discipleship. Goudzwaard is a Dutch economist and politician and a committed member of the Dutch Reformed Church. His writing is clear and focused.

He offers a sharp critique of the myth of progress–especially pointed coming from a professional economist–and shows how ideologies serve as the conduits for idolatry. He then looks at various ideologies, including belief in technology, nationalism and material prosperity, showing how these all stand in tension with biblical message of humanity created in God’s image and called to shalom and compassion.

His concluding chapter, “Hope Awakens Life,” serves as an excellent nutshell description of the contrast between biblical values and those of these modern idols.

This book is long out of print, but inexpensive used copies seem plentiful online. I highly recommend it.

Rebecca T. Alpert. Whose Torah? A Concise Guide to Progressive Judaism

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Rebecca T. Alpert. Whose Torah?: A Concise Guide to Progressive Judaism. The New Press, 2008.

This short book is part of a new series, “The Whose Religion? Series” published by the politically leftist New Press. This book and the series are welcome attempts to link progressive religious faith with progressive political activism.

Alpert is a pathbreaking rabbi and professor, one of the first women in Jewish history to be ordained a rabbi, a professor at Temple University, and long time political activist. All of these elements of her life are evident in this interesting book. 

I mildly recommend this book. I like Alpert’s general philosophy of life and that she refused to choose between her sense of calling as a leader in her faith community and her sense of calling to work for social change in our wider society. It is encouraging to read about the ways elements of the Jewish tradition can be understood to underwrite progressive politics.

At the same time, I felt a bit disappointed at the lack of theological depth I found. The title of the book, Whose Torah?, gave me hope that I would find a penetrating rationale for a politically progressive reading of Torah from a Jewish perspective–a repudiation of the idea that you either center on the Bible or on a contemporary, essentially secular, social justice agenda that gets its main guidance from present-day experience and Enlightenment humanism. But in the end, Alpert has very little to say about the content of Torah. 

I appreciate her affirmation of the progressive elements of modern Judaism, but I would have liked more grounding in the ancient texts–not because such grounding is the only valid way to be politically progressive but because I think the entire progressive community would benefit from more of an awareness of how progressive many elements of the biblical writings are.

 

Peace Theology Book Review Index

Healing Justice: Restoration, not Retribution

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Here is my recent sermon that critiques the death penalty and our American culture’s retributive mindset–arguing for a biblically-oriented approach that seeks healing for victim and offender. The sermon was presented at Shalom Mennonite Congregation, Harrisonburg, VA, January 11, 2009.

Slavoj Zizek. Violence

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Slavoj Zizek. Violence: Big Ideas/Small Books. Picador, 2008.

I’m not too sure about this book. I had hoped for a more perceptive analysis of the dynamics in our contemporary world and a stronger sense of opposition to violence and guidance on how to overcome its curse. Zizek, a superstar on the current public intellectual scene is supposedly a humanist and man of the Left. He certainly does not embrace revolutionary violence like some of his European contemporaries (e.g., Alain Badiou). And he does have moments of insight (I enjoyed his dismissal of Thomas Friedman).

However, he doesn’t really give us much of substance. He litters the text with references to popular culture, impressing with his breadth of awareness but not using these references to much effect. I did read this book very quickly, hoping to get a sense of whether I should pay more attention to Zizek. I’m afraid he didn’t catch my attention or pull me further into his orbit.

Bill Kauffman. Ain’t My America

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Bill Kauffman. Ain’t My America: The Long, Noble History of Antiwar Conservatism and Middle-American Anti-Imperialism. Metropolitan Books, 2008.

This is certainly an interesting–and encouraging–book. Bill Kauffman shows us that people on the right side of the conventional right/left political spectrum have resources in their political heritage strongly to oppose American imperialism. He traces how political conservatives from colonial days have opposed “foreign entanglements” in the name of democracy and national health. He even goes so far as to present his views as fully pacifist.

In doing so he punctures the myth that opposition to imperialism has been primarily articulated by leftists. Kauffman focuses on the 20th century and makes the totally valid point that it has been the great “liberal” presidents, members of the Democratic Party all, who have led our country into war–Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John Kennedy, and Lyndon Johnson. He does not deny that there have been imperialist Republicans–William McKinley and Richard Nixon come to mind.  And he is harsh and devastating in his critique of the disastrous evolution of the Republican Party culminating in the Bush/Cheney takeover.

That is, Kauffman does not give us a Democrat bad/Republican good polemic. In fact, probably his biggest political hero of the last fifty years is Democratic senator and presidential candidate George McGovern. Before McGovern, the model of an anti-imperial national politician is Robert Taft, long-time senator from Ohio.

Kauffman agrees with the sentiment attributed to Barry Goldwater that in the end the “Old Right” (such as Goldwater) and the “New Left” (such as McGovern) may have much more in common with each other–especially in their critique of imperialism–than they do with the political “centrists”, neo-conservatives, and Cold War liberals who tend to be in positions of leadership in the U.S. and who are succeeding in driving our country over the cliff.

Kauffman’s argument should not be surprising to anyone who has some sense of traditional, “main street” conservativism in the U.S.  It is good, nonetheless, to read an articulation of this view from someone on the Right. He doesn’t mention Andrew Bacevich in the book, but I think Bacevich’s books The New American Militarism and The Limits of Power complement Kauffman’s case for politically conservative anti-imperialism.

Kauffman and Bacevich help us a great deal in challenging the necessary association of political conservativism with imperialism and militarism. Conservatives should be challenged to repudiate the U.S. policies that rely on leading with military intervention and the creation of a global network of military bases and arms sales–in the name of political conservativism. Both of these writers may help us do so.

My only serious criticisms of the book relate to its style. Kauffman is witty and cutting in his critique–however he is sometimes a bit too cute and unfortunately a bit cryptic at times in his historical analyses. The book would have been strengthened had he given more background and explanation for his various examples. That is, his path is at times a bit difficult to follow because it isn’t always real clear what he’s describing unless one has a lot of historical knowledge. And a few of the issues that he raises as examples are a bit idiosyncratic (his hostility toward the income tax and day care for example).

But this is definitely a book for which to be grateful. May Kauffman’s numbers multiply greatly–and soon.

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Social Criticism in the Book of Revelation

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Often, the book of Revelation is appropriated for speculative, future-oriented, otherworldly purposes, closely aligned with reactionary politics (see the Left Behind books). Here is a paper arguing that instead Revelation is best read in solidly this-worldly, socially-radical terms. This paper, “Social Criticism in the Book of Revelation,” shows that Revelation is centrally concerned with a sharp critique of the power politics of the Roman Empire–and even more with the social alternative meant to be embodied by communities committed to following Jesus.