On War and American Christianity
Saturday, January 22, 2011 at 1:33PM “If I am close to being right about the place of war for sustaining the American difference I find that as a Christian I wish America as a nation was more “secular” and the Christianity of America was less American. Put differently I wish America was more like Europe. For I fear the Christianity of America, a Christianity that from a European perspective seems vital, is not capable of being a political challenge to what is done in the name of the American difference. In short, the great difficulty is how to keep America, in the proper sense, secular.”
Stanley Hauerwas, War and the American Difference (via invisibleforeigner)
A powerful quote indeed. I met Stanley Hauerwas when I was doing some teaching at Duke in 2005. He is a remarkable man - I am currently reading his autobiography 'Hannah's child: a theologians memoir'. Wonderfully encouraging and very 'real'. I mean it is real in the sense that it tells the story of someone who came to be a theologian by living an authentic life with courage, and writing and thinking what he believed.
The quote above is deeply challenging to me. I have often wondered whether a life lived in Christ demands radical pacifism. Does living under the authority of Jesus, the 'Prince of Peace', demand that we should be peacemakers to the exclusion of participating in any form of violence? Does it mean that we should not defend ourselves, or come to the aid of others (particularly those who are defenseless)?
As a South African I underwent military training - it was compulsory for all males at the time. It was a deeply challenging time for me. I struggled with many aspects of the 'formation' required for military service.
When I read Hauerwas I am convinced that war is not the answer to difficult and complex problems. It is powerful to achieve one's aims quickly. However, it is most often the poorer persons in society who become the casualties in achieving the ideologies of the wealthy and the powerful.
Well, I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Reader Comments (1)
Maybe the best thing to get the visible church to get mobile is for her to again suffer persecution. Having been a student of church history, as you have, has there ever been advances in the christian faith when it went unchallenged?