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As evidence that it's not a pacifist document, note that it's signed by Union University's David P. Gushee, who also has an article on Beliefnet arguing for justice, not retaliation. The government, he writes, must "exercise sober restraint in whatever use of violence may be necessary to accomplish [our] goals with special attention to avoiding civilian casualties." A phrase like "whatever use of violence may be necessary" isn't exactly pacifist.

Also on Beliefnet, the Southern Baptist Convention's Richard Land (appointed by President Bush this week to sit on the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom) also argues for force without vengeance. "Just-war theory was never intended to justify war. Instead, it tries to bring war under the sway of justice as understood by Christians and to ensure that war, when it does occur, is hedged about by limits to reduce its barbarity. It is to be a last resort, authorized only by legitimate civil authority. There must be limited goals, and the question of proportionality must accompany all actions. Underlying all of these criteria is the question of noncombatant immunity. No war that does not disqualify noncombatants as legitimate military targets and that does not seek to minimize collateral civilian casualties can be just."

In his Breakpoint radio commentary, Chuck Colson also appeals to just-war doctrine. "Christians need to focus attention on the issues surrounding just war," he says. "The President must respond to the terrorist attacks forcefully and quickly. The Bible teaches that the government has the power of the sword to preserve order and do justice. At the same time, the power of the sword has to be tempered by the restraints of the just war doctrine. … Today we need to be the ones who insist that the response to the terrorist attacks be proportionate, that it doesn't create a greater evil, and that civilians are not targeted."

Land and Colson apparently haven't signed "Deny Them Their Victory," but many other just-war adherents have. And it certainly seems that their arguments aren't at odds with the statement.

There are actual Christian pacifists out there, and yes, several of them have signed that statement. But they also go much further. "We believe that Jesus on the cross was an example of how we should live in the face of violence and hostility," Richard Kauffman, pastor of Toledo Mennonite Church, tells The Toledo Blade. "Jesus allowed himself to die, and absorbed in his own being the violence around him, rather than countering that violence. We believe we should pick up our cross and follow him. … For me, that's a faith statement. It's not what's most efficient or effective, but it is the core value which I have chosen to take in my own life, this commitment to not want to take someone else's life and, as a matter of fact, being more willing to die than to kill someone." And if Kauffman's name sounds familiar, it should: he previously served as associate editor of Christianity Today and still compiles our Reflections column.

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September (Web-only) 2001, Vol. 45