War and its discontents: pacifism and quietism in the Abrahamic traditions

455 Pages·1996·1.13 MB·English

by  J. Patout Burns

War and Its Discontents : Pacifism and
title:
Quietism in the Abrahamic Traditions
author: Burns, J. Patout.
publisher: Georgetown University Press
isbn10 | asin: 0878406034
print isbn13: 9780878406036
ebook isbn13: 9780585369617
language: English
Nonviolence--Religious aspects--
Comparative studies--Congresses, Pacifism-
-Religious aspects--Comparative studies--
subject Congresses, War--Religious aspects--
Comparative studies--Congresses, Peace--
Religious aspects--Comparative studies--
Congresses, Just war doc
publication date: 1996
lcc: BL65.V55W37 1996eb
ddc: 291.1/7873
Nonviolence--Religious aspects--
Comparative studies--Congresses, Pacifism-
-Religious aspects--Comparative studies--
subject: Congresses, War--Religious aspects--
Comparative studies--Congresses, Peace--
Religious aspects--Comparative studies--
Congresses, Just war doc
Page iii
War and Its Discontents
Pacifism and Quietism in the Abrahamic Traditions
Edited By
J. Patout Burns
Page iv
Georgetown University Press, Washington, D.C.
© 1996 by Georgetown University Press. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1996
THIS VOLUME IS PRINTED ON ACID-FREE OFFSET BOOK PAPER
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
War and its discontents: pacifism and quietism in the Abrahamic
traditions / edited by J. Patout Burns.
p. cm.
1. NonviolenceReligious aspectsComparative studies
Congresses. 2. PacifismReligious aspectsComparative studies
Congresses. 3. WarReligious aspectsComparative studies
Congresses. 4. PeaceReligious aspectsComparative studies
Congresses. 5. Just war doctrineCongresses. I. Burns, J.
Patout.
BL65.V55W37 1996
291.1'7873dc20 95-42086
ISBN 0-87840-603-4 (alk. paper)
Page v
Contents
Preface vii
Fighting the War and the Peace: Battlefield Ethics, Peace 1
Talks, Treaties, and Pacifism in the Jewish Tradition
Michael J. Broyde
The Pursuit of Peace: A Singular Commandment 31
Rabbi Everett Gendler
The Political Morality of Pacifism and Nonviolence: One 47
Jewish View
Yehudah Mirsky
Pacifism and Nonviolence: Another Jewish View 67
Naomi Goodman
On Not Being in Charge 74
John H. Yoder
Religious Pacifism and QuietismA Taxonomic Approach 91
and a Catholic Response
John P. Langan, S.J.
Beyond Just War and Pacifism 102
Walter Wink
Justifications for Violence in Islam 122
Abdulaziz A. Sachedina

Page vi
Is There a Tradition of Nonviolence in Islam? 161
Michael N. Nagler
Quietism and Pacifism in American Public Policy: The 167
Triumph of Secular Pacifism in the Religious State
Edward McGlynn Gaffney, Jr.
Toward a Common Heritage 200
J. Patout Burns
Contributors 221
Page vii
Preface
In July 1990, Washington University in St. Louis established the
Center for Interreligious Dialogue in its Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
Rather than addressing religious questions debated by the faith
traditions, the Center was charged with leading investigation into and
discussion of common social issues. By bringing the resources of the
religious traditions represented in its constituencies and in the larger
American society to bear on these problems, the Center might identify
common ground and help marshal forces to effect solutions.
The pressure of international events moved the Center to focus
attention on the conflict in the Persian Gulf region. Congress debated
the justice and wisdom of an armed response to Iraq's initiatives and
President Bush formed an international coalition. Rembert Weakland,
Roman Catholic Archbishop of Milwaukee, noted that the same
religious communities, particularly Christian and Muslim, would be
on both sides of the impending conflict. He called for an immediate
interreligious dialogue on the ethics of warfare. Dr. John Borelli, an
officer in the Secretariat for Interreligious Relations of the National
Conference of Catholic Bishops, initiated planning with the Center at
Washington University. In late November, the decision was made to
organize a conference for January 1991 that would address the ethics
of waging war in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Once the project
was undertaken, Dr. Borelli proved invaluable in winning
commitments to participate from key figures in the three religious
communities. Scholars agreed to provide overviews of the teaching of
each tradition and to lead the discussions. During the first week of
hostilities in January 1991, these scholars met with representatives of
the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim communities in St. Louis to address
the restrictions that each tradition placed on the use of force once war
has been declared. After intense private exchange, they laid
Page viii
out their conclusions in a two-hour presentation to the university
community and the news media.
In these discussions of the ethics of warfare, the growing influence of
the Christian pacifist tradition on the development of justifiable war
theory was noted: Violence was becoming increasingly difficult to
justify. Similarly, the emergence of Gandhian nonviolence as a means
of effecting social change also functioned as a brake on the
legitimation of coercive force. The evolution of military technology
and the difficulty of containing conflict had, it seemed, raised the
social and political cost of warfare.1
O'Ray Graber, then local secretary of the National Conference of
Christians and Jews, suggested that the Center for Interreligious
Dialogue investigate the pacifist tradition within Christianity and its
resonances in Jewish and Muslim legal teaching. Thus a second
conference, under the auspices of the United States Institute of Peace,
was organized to explore the foundations for an ethic of pacifism or
quietism in each of the Abrahamic traditions. During the spring and
fall of 1992, a series of papers was presented on the Washington
University campus, addressing the various positions operative in each
tradition. The first of these was offered in conjunction with a
conference held to honor the memory of Steven Schwarzchild, long-
time Professor of Philosophy at Washington University and an
advocate of pacifism within the Jewish tradition. In addition, a fourth
speaker was invited to discuss the response of the government of the
United States to religious pacifism, in the form of conscientious
objection to military service. Each of these papers was sent to another
expert for comment. Then in February 1993, the original speakers, the
invited commentators, and representatives of the religious
communities converged on the campus for two days of concentrated
debate. A major snowstorm that disrupted travel and closed the
campus turned what had been planned as a public conference into a