Panels explore religious perspectives on war, non-violence
Mark Falbo, Charles Hurst, Martin Plax, Ramez Islambouli, Paul Lauritzen, Len Calabrese Rev. Valentino Lassiter, Fr. Paul Krupa SJ, Dr. James Lissemore
A four-person panel engaged a Jardine Room audience for nearly 2 hours Wednesday night in exploring different religious perspectives into America's "War on Terrorism." They were (l to r) Dr. Mark Falbo, Executive Director of JCU's Center for Community Services; Rev. Charles Hurst, Pastor of North Presbyterian Church; Dr. Martin Plax, Director of the American Jewish Committee's Cleveland Chapter; and Imam Ramez Islambouli, Chaplain at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.  Each delivered brief opening remarks and then took questions from the audience under the moderation of Religious Studies Chair Paul Lauritzen (2nd from r). In the last analysis, one of the key lessons presented could be found in the remarks of Len Calabrese '68 (at lecturn), director of the co-sponsoring Commission on Catholic Community Action, as he introduced the panelists. "No one is representing the be-all and end-all of his particular faith-based tradition," Calabrese cautioned, calling the discussion "a beginning, not an end," and urging that it be continued, "with even more diversity." Yesterday Rev. Stephen Krupa SJ (center), Assistant Professor in Religious Studies, presented the Catholic Church's position on just wars and pasifism, and Rev. Valentino Lassiter (left), Pastor in Residence, followed with highlights of the approach to non-violence taken by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., after which they received questions from the audience in a discussion moderated by Dr. James Lissemore (at lecturn), Associate Professor of Biology.

Read brief summaries of Fr. Krupa & Rev. Lassiter

 

Read brief summaries of Dr. Falbo, Rev. Hurst, Imam Islambouli &Dr. Plax
  
Return to Timely Coverage
  
   
   
   
   
Dr. Falbo observed that the Catholic tradition encompasses both nonviolence and justified force and "begins with the presumption against war." Quoting the American bishops' November 14 letter on the subject he said, "Military force must always be taken with deep regret." The "just war" tradition does not make aggressive action on the part of government legitimate. The goal is to limit war, not make it easier. Accordingly, war must be waged only for just cause and the force must be applied justly and "in proportion." Quoting Pope John Paul II, he said, "If you want peace, work for justice... Limited force may be necessary, but it is inadequate by itself to ensure our security." 

Arguing exclusively on the side of non-violence, Rev. Hurst said it "reflects the whole commitment of a person's life." Far from being a "passive approach," he said non-violence "stems from what Jesus calls us to." Remembering the thousands of Nicuraguan victims of violence sponsored in the name of democracy, Rev. Hurst noted the tendency to create a difference in our mind between the end and the means. "Jesus said there is no difference... We want easy answers, our problems solved now, so we move away from non-violence." Noting the fact that 20 percent of the world's population consumes 80 percent of its wealth, he decried President Bush's advice in the wake of September 11th to "go back to shopping." "We must solve the problem of injustice," he declared. "It's not going to happen in our lifetime, but that's no excuse for turning away from the task."

"Is war necessary?" Imam Islambouli asked. "If we agree that it is, we must understand how to conduct ourselves before, during and after the war." Since it is not an ideal world, the answer to the question seems to be "yes." If God didn't allow war, he said, "all the mosques, the temples and the churches would be destroyed." But the first goal must be peace. If we see two sides fighting, he said, we must try to make peace between them. "If peace cannot be achieved, we should side with the oppressed." Stressing the command to preserve innocent lives, the Imam recalled the charge to Muslim warriors to safeguard women and children and even "not to pull down a tree, not to harm an animal." He closed by reading passages -- from the Koran, the Old Testament and the New Testament -- that he confessed even as a member of the clergy that he found troubling because they are used by people to justify war.

Martin Plax began with a personal experience, having been stabbed in St. Louis in 1944 by someone who cursed him as a "Christ killer." He has worn the scar as "a badge of honor," but instead of choosing militancy, he has worked for peace, as he said Jews who often found themselves in the minority have always had to do. When the horrific events unfolded on September 11, he telephoned a Palestinian friend who had been his student. Together with others of Middle East background they drafted a statement appealing for calm and opposing rushed judgment and intimidation. Dr. Plax traced the development of justice in the Old Testament, from the "dangerous" form of personal justice seen in the story of Cain and Abel to the political justice portrayed in Abraham's negotiation with God over the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah. "If there's anything my tradition has taught me, it is that we need to moderate our passion for justice with prudence."

Return to Top of Page
   
   
   
   
   
As had Mark Falbo the previous evening, Father Krupa explained that the Church recognizes both war and non-violence as permissible responses to evil, and he outlined the criteria of a "just war." "The use of force must not produce a greater evil than that which it is intended to eliminate," he said, for example. In discussing non-violence, he observed that "pacifism is not PASSIVE-ism" and referred to sit-ins, marches and other initiatives often employed in pursuing non-violence. Differentiating between selective pacifism, in which one rejects violence in certain cases (as in the Vietnam War) but not in all, and absolute pacifism, in which one rejects violence at whatever cost, Krupa recalled the "hard sayings" of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, as in "turn the other cheek" and "do good to your enemies," and noted Christ's continued pacifism even in the face of suffering and death. He also quoted Dorothy Day: "The works of mercy are opposed to the works of war."

Rev. Lassiter described how Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was "informed by the Church fathers" like Saint Augustine in his seven rules on war, and Saint Thomas Acquinas in his principles of law. Eventually the civil rights leader would characterize violence as "a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy ... You can murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie ... You can murder the hater, but not the hate ... Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hatred cannot drive out hatred; only love can do that." Lassiter noted how King's later almost "happenstance" introduction to the non-violent strategy of Gandhi laid the foundation for his own tactics in the civil rights struggle, and how his decision to come out against the Vietnam War -- exactly one year before he was assassinated -- made him a fighter not just for civil rights, but for human rights.

Return to Top of Page