Pacifism

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Pacifism

The flowering of religious pacifism during the last half of the twentieth century in the United States comes from seeds scattered by earlier responses to war and social turmoil. The term "pacifism" emerged at the beginning of this century as a description of the diverse ways that people were working for peace. Thus those who based their pacifism in religion earlier in this century were the precursors of the many types of religious pacifism today.

There may be said to be three general species of religious pacifism that contribute to the diversity of contemporary religious pacifism. The first type is modeled by the Mennonites, who historically refused to participate in war of any sort and remained separate from attempts to influence politics. Such pacifists base their commitment on the view that Jesus and the early church were nonresisters to evil and kept apart from the world. The second type, exemplified by the Quakers, Brethren, and subgroups within many denominations, such as the Catholic Worker movement or the evangelical Sojourners community, also refuse to participate in war. However, such groups believe they are to promote peace and social justice in the world. These pacifists see Jesus as actively resisting injustice by nonviolence, and believe that Christ's spirit calls them to do so today. The third species includes those across all religious denominations who see war as sometimes justifiable, but believe their mission is to help prevent war. They do not see the early church speaking to social justice issues directly, but rather feel that Christians are obligated to protect innocent life through involvement with the social order, as in Roman Catholic "just war" doctrine. Two developments from these roots show the diversity and influence of religious pacifism today: the spread of opposition to participation in war and the use of nonviolent action to challenge social injustice.

Representatives from the three historic peace churches—Mennonites, Brethren, and Quakers—advocated conscientious objection as the country reinstated the draft to prepare for World War II. The government did allow for conscientious objection, and those recognized as conscientious objectors (C.O.'s) worked in the Civilian Public Service (CPS) during the war. However, there were pacifists who refused to cooperate at all with the draft and went to prison, and some C.O.'s protested the government control of the CPS camps. Such actions generated ongoing efforts to expand the range of conscientious objection. During the Vietnam era, government recognition was enlarged so that today moral and ethical beliefs against participating in all war qualify for C.O. status. Groups such as the National Interreligious Service Board for Conscientious Objectors and the Friends Committee on National Legislation were formed during the war. They continue work today on behalf of pacifists and a range of social justice issues. Now, most Christian and Jewish denominations in the U.S. support conscientious objection and have created their own denominational groups that address issues of social concern. Further, some groups, such as the U.S. Catholic bishops, have advocated recognizing those who conscientiously oppose particular wars or nuclear war. The government, however, has yet to recognize selective objection to war. Other religiously based groups, such as the Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund, have advocated conscientious objector status for taxpayers who want their taxes to go to nonmilitary spending.

The second aspect of the growth of religious pacifism in the second half of this century is the development of nonviolent action against social injustice. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was presented the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 for the combination of his Christian faith with the active nonviolence of Mohandas Gandhi. However, the nonviolent challenges to racial segregation that became standard in the civil rights movement after the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955 were connected to those who had been nonviolent activists as C.O.'s and draft resisters. These individuals were attracted to the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR), an ecumenical organization founded in 1914 to support religious pacifists. The FOR, chaired by former minister A. J. Muste, then offered leadership and training to early civil rights workers.

The success of nonviolent actions in the civil rights movement generated powerful links between pacifist opposition to war and efforts to correct social injustice. Religiously based nonviolent action spread to many social change groups. For example, in the 1970s the United Farm Workers used marches, strikes, boycotts, and fasting to highlight the plight of farm workers, sometimes breaking the law. During the 1980s, the Sanctuary Movement openly violated U.S. immigration law by providing help to Central American refugees. Also, campaigns against the proliferation of nuclear weapons that occurred in the 1970s and 1980s had initial leadership from religious pacifist groups like the American Friends Service Committee and the FOR. These efforts included work at the level of electoral politics that resulted in some governmental shift toward more control of nuclear weapons. Also, the campaign for the freeze on nuclear weapons development saw the spread of nonviolent actions aimed at symbolic destruction of those weapons by such groups as the Plowshares. Here radical pacifists, such as the Roman Catholic priests Daniel and Philip Berrigan, questioned the pacifist avoidance of the destruction of property used for war making.

In the 1990s many groups supported by religious pacifists have blossomed. Pastors for Peace sends medical supplies to Cuba in violation of the U.S. embargo. The Voices in the Wilderness campaign breaks the U.N. sanctions on Iraq by supplying food and medicine. Feminists for Life question war, the death penalty, and abortion. Many denominational groups are involved in a resurgence of activity against the death penalty. Members of the campaign to close the U.S. military training school for Latin Americans, the School of the Americas, have trespassed on property, prayed, and been arrested.

Thus, in the midst of many wars and much social injustice, religious pacifists have sought to remain true to their faith and responsive to the larger world at the close of the twentieth century. Because of this, religious pacifism is continuing to grow and diversify at the close of the twentieth century.