{"id":5977,"date":"2020-09-25T03:22:38","date_gmt":"2020-09-25T07:22:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/messyinspirations\/?p=5977"},"modified":"2020-09-25T12:46:31","modified_gmt":"2020-09-25T16:46:31","slug":"moral-limits-pacifism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/messyinspirations\/2020\/09\/moral-limits-pacifism\/","title":{"rendered":"What Are the Moral Limits of Pacifism?"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p><figure id=\"attachment_5983\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5983\" style=\"width: 768px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-5983 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/1251\/2020\/09\/TrumppacifismSmall.jpg\" alt=\"Pacifism with Trump?\" width=\"768\" height=\"404\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-5983\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span style=\"color: #993366;\"><em><strong>Pacifism with Trump? \/ Image by <a style=\"color: #993366;\" href=\"https:\/\/pixabay.com\/users\/gregroose-2823595\/?utm_source=link-attribution&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=image&amp;utm_content=4983691\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Gr\u00e9gory ROOSE<\/a> from <a style=\"color: #993366;\" href=\"https:\/\/pixabay.com\/?utm_source=link-attribution&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=image&amp;utm_content=4983691\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Pixabay<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><h2 style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\"><br>\nMay God grant us insight to both discern the moral limits of pacifism and actively listen to one another in these dark days.\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">As the COVID-19 pandemic continues with no end in sight, 200,000 people are dead. And our servant-leader, Donald Trump? He toys with refusing to leave office should he lose the 2020 election.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"President Donald Trump won't commit to peaceful transfer of power if he loses the election\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oR8oIitE6mI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">His supporters? They may be willing to fight (and kill?) to support his ambitions. Among the supporters are Catholics, convinced they are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/messyinspirations\/2020\/02\/abortion-trumps-pedophilia\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">fighting for life<\/a>. Among them, priests, insisting without censure that being Democrat effectively cancels what Baptism does. Some even claim being Democrat guarantees damnation. This ignorance pools into a dangerous cocktail we\u2019ve seen before in other countries with Catholic majorities, such as Rwanda.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Fr. Altman: You cannot be Catholic &amp; a Democrat. Period. (Part I)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3-7eoTN2vNM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>Was Jesus a Pacifist?<\/h2>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">What should a U.S. Catholic of good conscience do? Remain passive with thoughts and prayers? Maybe keep to social media rants and other fluff? After all, Christ calls us to be pacifists.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">Except he didn\u2019t. Pro-gun Republican Catholics often remind us that sometimes arms must be used to safeguard life, property, and the common good. In other words, there are moral limits to pacifism. When the stakes are high enough, when the occasion becomes so grave, opting for pacifism becomes evil. Evil is the deprivation of a due good.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Jesus the Liberator &amp; Rebel\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wt7Xug9dDRw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>So Christian\u00a0\u2260 Pacifism<\/h2>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">So neither \u201cCatholic\u201d nor \u201cChristian\u201d means being a pacifist, even if pacifism and Christianity have often united beautifully. Yes, <em>nonviolence<\/em> is inexorably tied to the Way of Jesus. However, Jesus\u2019 nonviolence was not identical with the later pacifism of Gandhi and King, as good as such pacifism was in these two heroes. In contrast, Jesus\u2019 nonviolence was about \u201ccanceling the honor debt.\u201d<br>\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\"><br>\nJesus\u2019 society was agonistic. So rightly understanding his Middle Eastern cultural context, offenses against honor demanded death as a response.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">Therefore, removing our spurious familiarity, Jesus says, <em>\u201cWaive your right to vengeance\u2014cancel the honor debt.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">Note that recognizing the circum-Mediterranean cultural assumptions in the Gospels, all foreign to Americans, requires the humility of dropping spurious familiarity and actually listening. In the Mediterranean cultural world of the Gospels, the one who shames or dishonors deserves death. Jesus, Mediterranean, gets this. But he says, \u201c<em>Cancel the honor-debt anyway.\u201d<\/em> That\u2019s not what Gandhi says. That\u2019s not what King says. And that is not our pacifism, my friends. But that <i>was<\/i> Jesus\u2019 brand of nonviolence.<br>\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Jesus the American Friend and Brother\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/z_z8Qpb294A?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>Pacifism Has Moral Limits<\/h2>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">We don\u2019t live in Jesus\u2019 cultural world. Therefore there are problems in the American <em>Christianese<\/em> expression, \u201cWWJD\u201d? American Christians, lacking time machines, come to Jesus sacramentally, indirectly, <em>as Americans<\/em>. There really is no other way for us. Consequently, there are many things Jesus would do that simply can\u2019t directly apply to our vastly different 21st-century Western cultural world.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Taking the IN+Carnation Seriously\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/m3q_aNMlXn0?list=PLpvbtNpcitxzalAAqv6dkRE6b0SRALGNM\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">Please understand that I am neither dismissing nor denigrating pacifism. Thank God for the later pacifism of Gandhi and King! It does work in many situations. Many times, to great tragedy, it is left untried.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">Sadly though, it would not have worked in Hitler\u2019s Berlin. Disagree? Go ask Dietrich Bonhoeffer and why he was executed. It wasn\u2019t for pacifism. As horribly unjust and murderous those in power were in the British Empire and the Jim Crow South, they wouldn\u2019t stoop to the genocidal evil of the Third Reich. This was because they were checked from falling that evil by fear, not goodness.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">Regardless, pacifism could not work against Hitler. Again, there are moral limits to pacifism.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Civil Wars &amp; Game Theory<\/h2>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">Horrifically, we may reach those limits again soon. We are not there yet, thank God, but we may be soon enough. At least many seem to think so, among them Mike Selinker, who uses game theory to work out possible war scenarios. Last week, <em>Medium<\/em>\u00a0published his piece entitled \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/@mikeselinker\/a-wargame-designer-describes-our-four-possible-civil-wars-cf5b2e980099\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" class=\" decorated-link\"><span style=\"color: #4a6ee0;\">A Wargame Designer Defines Our Four Possible Civil Wars.<\/span><\/a>\u201d If you think the title is unsettling, wait until you read his article.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/mikeselinker\/status\/1307460957858226176<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">Say Selinker\u2019s worst fears prove correct, and civil war comes. What will we do? Should we prepare, and if so, how? War is hell! I don\u2019t want to hurt anyone, much less wage war. Who wants to wage war against anyone, especially fellow American? I sure don\u2019t! But could a scenario happen where we are morally obliged into such actions?\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">Some believe that American Christians who oppose Trump should arm themselves and learn about responsible gun use and care. Remember, there are moral limits to pacifism, and many Trump supporters are armed to the teeth. Some Trump supporters have even cheered about possible civil war. Because some are, does this force us into the uncomfortable moral obligation to take countermeasures?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">Should we arm themselves? Form militias? Would doing so be effective? <a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/@mikeselinker\/a-wargame-designer-describes-our-four-possible-civil-wars-cf5b2e980099\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Read Selinker\u2019s piece<\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h2>What About Active Listening?<\/h2>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">Others insist we must dialogue. But is dialogue even possible? Here is what some catechists, youth and young adult ministers, Church employees, Catholics and other Christians on social media were observed saying today\u2014<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;\"><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: center;\"><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">\u201cBreonna Taylor got what she deserved! That\u2019s what happens when you hang out with the wrong people!\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: center;\"><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">\u201cDon\u2019t want to be killed? Then don\u2019t fire on policemen!\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: center;\"><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">\u201cAll lives matter!\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: center;\"><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">\u201cHer boyfriend shot at the police she got what she got. Screw her.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: center;\"><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">\u201cPresident Trump is a great defender of life! President 4 Life! Its got a ring to it!\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">News shows clamor tonight with talk of civil war. <em>The Atlantic<\/em>\u00a0published an article describing what could very likely happen should Trump lose. It rhymes with Selinker\u2019s \u201cwargames\u201d piece.\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/magazine\/archive\/2020\/11\/what-if-trump-refuses-concede\/616424\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" class=\" decorated-link\"><span style=\"color: #4a6ee0;\">Read the terrifying possibilities here in an article meant to be published by Mid-October in \u201cThe Atlantic.\u201d<\/span><\/a>\u00a0The magazine claims, \u201cbecause of its urgency,\u201d they decided to publish it posthaste.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Being Realistic with Donald Trump<\/h2>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">Would Donald Trump really refuse a peaceful transfer of powers? What would play out should he refuse to accept defeat?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">Can you imagine the brutality of any of the four civil war scenarios Selinker describes? All happening in the COVID-19 pandemic. We say 2020 has been horrible, but it\u2019s possible that the horrors haven\u2019t even begun! Indeed, if Selinker and friends are right, 2021 could make us beg for the comforts 2020. Think about that, voting Catholics.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">And where are the bishops? Right now, we sorely need genuine shepherds. But we don\u2019t need costumed fops frequenting gala dinners and liquor lunches. And what good is the bishop who enables unbalanced priests? <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">As the Bishop of Tyler I endorse Fr Altman\u2019s statement in this video. My shame is that it has taken me so long.  Thank you Fr Altman for your COURAGE. If you love Jesus &amp; His Church &amp; this nation\u2026pleases HEED THIS MESSAGE <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/D413G0lfQV\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/t.co\/D413G0lfQV<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Bishop J. Strickland (@BishStrickland) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BishStrickland\/status\/1302293048659935232?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">September 5, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">Where is their moral authority? The best remedy for addiction, including the codependent dance of clergy and laity, is hitting rock bottom. Terrifyingly, 2020 may prove to be\u00a0 just another continental shelf\u2014rock bottom may yet lie leagues below.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Pacifism Tried<\/h2>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">Many U.S. Catholics claim to be pro-life, and they claim that Trump is also. Self-proclaimed patriots likewise imagine Trump to be a patriot. Trump says he wants to eliminate the mail-in ballots. How could such an action against the will of \u201cWe the People\u201d be patriotic? How could the end of the United States favor life?\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">Many argue that Trump will never concede defeat. As Trump himself suggests, should the election results not favor him, then it must be a scam. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/ideas\/archive\/2019\/10\/george-conway-trump-unfit-office\/599128\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Many have argued that Trump is a psychopath<\/a>. Maybe he is. But even more concerning than Trump\u2019s actions is the blind loyalty of his followers. And when Trump is gone, they remain. And our society grows ever more tribalistic.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\u201cIt would take entire books to catalog all of Trump\u2019s behavioral abnormalities and try to explain them\u2014some of which have already been written. But when you line up what the Framers expected of a president with all that we know about Donald Trump, \u2026.\u201d<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/WdljZPm2nW\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/t.co\/WdljZPm2nW<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 George Conway (@gtconway3d) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/gtconway3d\/status\/1179693086164885504?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">October 3, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">\u201cLet\u2019s keep the dialogue open!\u201d But there has been no dialogue for the past four years. We seem incapable of it. So what do Americans do? Turn to violence? We must try harder to listen actively, in empathy.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">\u201cThoughts and prayers\u201d won\u2019t suffice. Cowardice masquerading as piety won\u2019t work. But neither will violence. We must try harder to listen and communicate effectively.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h2>What If Civil War?<\/h2>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">But let\u2019s say our efforts are squandered and dialogue is impossible. What then? War?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">\u201cThe U.S. military won\u2019t let it get that far.\u201d Really? Okay. How will the armed forces respond? Selinker realistically describes four different scenarios, each one more horrific than the last. And he lists the possible ways the military will react. Perhaps they\u2019ll merely go along with <em>der F\u00fchrer<\/em> Trump, as Selinker tells it. Or maybe Trump will go the way of dinosaurs, as Selinker suggests in one of his grim scenarios.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">But bullets don\u2019t heal. Is a military dictatorship better than Trump? Hard as it is for some of us to believe, history teaches that societies exist far worse than Trump\u2019s America. Our times are dark but can become far darker.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">But is it then morally acceptable to placate a defeated POTUS illegally refusing to leave office?<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Will Trump Concede?<\/h2>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">Trump may legitimately win the 2020 election. But\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/magazine\/archive\/2020\/11\/what-if-trump-refuses-concede\/616424\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" class=\" decorated-link\"><span style=\"color: #4a6ee0;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><em>The Atlantic<\/em> piece claims that he will never concede<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0should he lose<span style=\"color: #0e101a;\" data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">. And imagine a defeated Trump is forced to leave, or is exiled, or imprisoned, or killed. As long as he breathes, claims writer Barton Gellman, he will never concede. And should he die, is it crazy to think that many of his followers will proclaim him a \u201cmartyr\u201d? Where do we go from there? We may have already gone too far, over the underwater cliff, down into the cold, crushing depths of unknown sea monsters without the faintest glimmer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">Where is hope to be found, fellow Christians? Are any of Selinker\u2019s civil war scenarios possible? Are they inevitable? And if so, what hideous regimes await our future? Some rank Trump to be the worst POTUS ever. Maybe he is. Conceivably far worse may follow him, as the pendulum swings wide, Right and Left, and we become more tribalistic. And there are moral limits to pacifism.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Even if no civil war comes happens directly because of this election, do you really think the way America is won\u2019t lead to these horrors in the near future?<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt;\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\"><br>\nAmerican Catholics<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">Since Catholics entered this United States experiment, we have wondered: how can we be both Catholic and American? Founder of the Paulist Fathers, Isaac Thomas Hecker (d. 1888), addressed this. Said Hecker, \u201cI have the conviction that I can be all the better Catholic because I am an American; and all the better American because I am Catholic.\u201d Hecker anticipated the Second Vatican Council by roughly a century.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">But how will Hecker\u2019s dream be realized if we fail to understand ourselves? If we are to survive and prosper as a society, we better understand our culture really well. And we had better grasp the moral limits to pacifism. Long before reaching that grim threshold, we need to take our obligation seriously to informed, active participation as U.S. citizens. And we must never lose sight of the value of the Other, no matter how fiercely we disagree.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Moral Non-Negotiables &amp; Love<\/h2>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">Tolerating a despotic regime costumed as \u201cpro-life\u201d Captain America is unacceptable. Celebrating it as such is appalling. But why would anyone do such a thing? To find that out, should we begin by calling the other \u201cstupid\u201d and \u201cdeplorable,\u201d or \u201csister\u201d and \u201cbrother\u201d? Where is our starting point? <strong>Truth garbed in rough language ahead!<br>\n<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"President Trump: How &amp; Why...\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/GLG9g7BcjKs?start=5&amp;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">To move away from the brink, we must remember how to listen. We need to come from love, but not the wishy-washy acceptance of evil mistaken for love. As we\u2019ve said, there are moral limits to pacifism. \u201cHit the road, Jack!\u201d can be love. Tough love is love. And love can even be violent but always without ego. Love is like a hurricane, and hurricanes are violent, but without ego. Love can even put someone on the ground if need be. Hopefully, this won\u2019t have to be how we love.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">Love listens to the other with empathy. Love is free to disagree. But love strives to understand.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">Love can also vote. When love votes, love votes informed. And love listens. Love puts the other first. Love loves what is as hope loves what will be. But what will be, American Catholics? Only hope can see that, for just as faith sees what is, hope sees what will be. Don\u2019t lose hope!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\">What will be? God help us.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>May God grant us insight to both discern the moral limits of pacifism and actively listen to one another in these dark days.\u00a0 \u00a0 As the COVID-19 pandemic continues with no end in sight, 200,000 people are dead. And our servant-leader, Donald Trump? He toys with refusing to leave office should he lose the 2020 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4218,"featured_media":5983,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2786,1598,2839,2845,762,2866,2842,2851,2857,2860,2836,2863,2848,2854],"class_list":["post-5977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-2020-election","tag-breonna-taylor","tag-civil-war","tag-concede-election","tag-donald-trump","tag-donald-trump-narcissist","tag-donald-trump-refuses-to-concede","tag-fr-james-altman","tag-game-theory","tag-mike-selinker","tag-pacifism","tag-the-atlantic","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-what-are-the-moral-limits-of-pacifsm"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What Are The Limits To Pacifism? 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