An Historical Study of United States Religious Responses to the Vietnam War: A Matter of National Morality

611 Pages·2011·17.724 MB·English

by  Rick L. Nutt, Randall Balmer

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A Matter of National Morality
Rick L. Nutt
With a Foreword by
Randall Balmer
The Edwin Mellen Press
Lewiston•Queenston•Lampeter
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Nutt, Rick.
An historical study of United States religious responses to the Vietnam
War: a matter of national morality / Rick L. Nutt; with a foreword by
Randall Balmer.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-7734-2569-9 (hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-7734-2569-1 (hardcover)
1. Vietnam War, 1961-1975—Religious aspects. 2. Vietnam War, 1961-
1975--United States. I. Title.
DS559.64.N88 2011
959.704'31--dc23
2011043625
hors serie.
A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.
Front cover photo: (L. to R.) Rabbi Abraham Heschel, Dr. Henry Steele Commager,
the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Dr. John C. Bennett, Riverside Church, NYC,
NY, at a Clergy and Laity Concerned Antiwar Rally on April 4, 1967. C John C.
Goodwin
Copyright 0 2012 Rick L. Nutt
All rights reserved. For information contact
The Edwin Mellen Press(cid:9) The Edwin Mellen Press
Box 450(cid:9) Box 67
Lewiston, New York (cid:9) Queenston, Ontario
USA 14092-0450(cid:9) CANADA LOS ILO
The Edwin Mellen Press, Ltd.
Lampeter, Ceredigion, Wales
UNITED KINGDOM SA48 8LT
Printed in the United States of America
For
Donna and Bob
who lived through these years with me

Table of Contents
(cid:9)
Foreword by Randall Balmer i
(cid:9)
Preface
111
(cid:9)
Acknowledgments
V
Part One
(cid:9)
Introduction 3
Chapter I: "A Preservation and Extension of Freedom":
Background of the Vietnam War and
Religious Attitudes Toward U.S. Foreign
Policy(cid:9) 9
Vietnam: Brief Historical Background(cid:9) 9
United States Cold War Foreign Policy(cid:9) 14
United States Religious Groups and the
Cold War (cid:9) 19
U.S. Exceptionalism and Foreign Policy(cid:9) 33
The Vietnam War: A Survey(cid:9) 43
Early Religious Responses to the Vietnam War (cid:9) 53
Part Two
Chapter II: "Let Every Person Be Subject to the Governing
Authorities": Religious Leaders and
Organizations Supporting United States
Policy in Vietnam(cid:9) 69
Billy Graham's Support for the Vietnam War (cid:9) 70
Other Evangelical Support for the Vietnam War (cid:9) 80
Fundamentalists Defense of the Morality of the
Vietnam War (cid:9) 85
Chapter III: "One Could Regret the Killing and
Insist That It Should Continue":
Denominational Support for the
Vietnam War (cid:9) 101
Southern Baptist Support for the Vietnam War (cid:9) 101
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod Support
for the War 107
Other Evangelical Denominations' Support
For the Vietnam War 113
Evangelical Journals Respond to the Vietnam
War 117
Deviating from the Majority Opinion 121
Eastern Orthodox Support for the Vietnam War 124
Background to the Roman Catholic Responses
To the Vietnam War 127
Early Catholic Defense of the Vietnam War 128
Growing Dissent in the Church 135
The Catholic Press and the War 140
Catholic Opinion Grows More Diverse 142
Chapter IV: "Our Action in Vietnam Falls Within
International Law and the Laws of War":
Just War Defense of the United States in
the Vietnam War and the Embrace of
Exceptionalism(cid:9) 161
Moral Arguments for the United States'
Participation in the Vietnam War (cid:9) 163
Exceptionalism and Religious Responses to
the Vietnam War (cid:9) 175
Part Three
Chapter V: "Some Are Guilty, All Are Responsible":
Liberal Ecumenical Para-Religious
Organizations Assess the Morality of the
Vietnam War (cid:9) 187
Cautious Beginnings 187
Criticism by the NCC Begins to Grow 192
Being Pushed to Stronger Action from the
Margins 199
The Creation of Clergy and Laity Concerned 202
Intensifying the Opposition to the War 210
Special Strategies for Effecting Change 219
The War, and the Work, Goes On 227
Vietnam Summer 236
From the Tet Offensive to the Paris Peace
Accord 239
New Efforts as the Fighting Continued 255
Chapter VI: "The Greatest Purveyor of Violence in the
World Today: My Own Government":
Other Christian and Jewish Organizations
and Leaders Respond to the Morality
of the Vietnam War (cid:9) 261
Martin Luther King, Jr. and the African American
Response to the Vietnam War 261
King's Speech at Riverside Church 271
King's Continuing Opposition to the War 277
Evangelical Denial of the Nation's Morality
In Vietnam 281
Other Evangelical Voices Opposing the War 285
Jewish Responses to the Morality of the
Vietnam War 289
Chapter VII: "Moral Outrage Over This War is Simply
not an Emotion Shared by the Nixom
Majority": Issues Confronted by
Para-religious Organizations and
Individuals during the Vietnam War (cid:9) 297
Questions of Strategy: Coalitions 298
Questions of Strategy: Civil Disobedience 307
Questions of Strategy: How Best to End the War? 313
Seeking to Affect the Course of the War
Through Governmental Contact 317
The Challenge: Changing Public Opinion and
Motivating Opposition 324
The Clergy-Laity and Clergy-Clergy Gap 331
Chapter VIII: "Does Our Nation Need Restraining by
Other Nations?": Denominations
Questioning the Morality of the
Vietnam War (cid:9) 349
Old-Line Protestant Denominations Statements up
to the Tet Offensive 350
Old-Line Protestant Denominational Statements
from the Tet Offensive to the End of the
War 360
Pastors' and Members' of Old-Line Denominations
Responses to the Vietnam War 366
Church Members Speak of the War's Morality 371
The 1968 Denominational Survey Regarding the
War 380
Historic Peace Churches Respond to the Vietnam
War 383
Judaism Responds to the Vietnam War 398
The Issues of Military Chaplaincy and the
State of Israel 408
Fervent Jewish Moral Opposition to the
Vietnam War 412
Ongoing Diversity of Jewish Opinion 414
Addressing the War with Specifically Jewish
Moral Arguments 418
Who Speaks for the Churches? 425