{"id":1594,"date":"2008-04-10T07:24:00","date_gmt":"2008-04-10T07:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2008\/04\/unitarian-universalism-and-pacifism\/"},"modified":"2011-11-01T15:13:20","modified_gmt":"2011-11-01T19:13:20","slug":"unitarian-universalism-and-pacifism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2008\/04\/unitarian-universalism-and-pacifism.html","title":{"rendered":"Unitarian Universalism and Pacifism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>
When I spent my sabbatical last year as minister-in-residence at Meadville Lombard<\/a>, our Unitarian Universalist seminary in Chicago I met two seminarians who were in process of preparing for the military chaplaincy.<\/p>\n

I found I admired both of them, considerably. And, one of them, David Pyle, has become a friend. David maintains a fascinating blog<\/a> which I follow.<\/p>\n

This post is mainly a pointer to his most recent entry, \u201cUnitarian Universalism and Military Chaplaincy.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

But also a thought or two of my own on the subject. I brood over the issue of pacifism. A lot.<\/p>\n

I often describe myself as a near-pacifist. I wish it more, but I don\u2019t come closer than \u201cnear.\u201d<\/p>\n

While I believe violence is a terrible thing, nearly impossible to control once unleashed, and always leaves a wake of sorrow, a flood of unintended consequences: we also have a right of self-protection.<\/p>\n

Actually I\u2019m inclined to the belief that if we do not formally opt out through something along the lines of monastic vows, we probably have a moral obligation to protect our loved ones, certainly relatives. And through my sense of interconnection, that obligation of protection extends out pretty far\u2026<\/p>\n

I weigh these things and I find myself so, so close to embracing the pacifist way, but never quite making it there.<\/p>\n

It is a conundrum I\u2019ve not been able to resolve, a personal koan of our communal life\u2026<\/p>\n

So, back to David\u2019s essay. He makes some interesting points, and particularly situates the questions within the scope of Unitarian Universalism.<\/p>\n

Well worth the read\u2026<\/p>\n

And the ponder\u2026<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I spent my sabbatical last year as minister-in-residence at Meadville Lombard, our Unitarian Universalist seminary in Chicago I met two seminarians who were in process of preparing for the military chaplaincy. I found I admired both of them, considerably. And, one of them, David Pyle, has become a friend. David maintains a fascinating blog […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":120,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nUnitarian Universalism and Pacifism<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When I spent my sabbatical last year as minister-in-residence at Meadville Lombard, our Unitarian Universalist seminary in Chicago I met two seminarians\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2008\/04\/unitarian-universalism-and-pacifism.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Unitarian Universalism and Pacifism\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When I spent my sabbatical last year as minister-in-residence at Meadville Lombard, our Unitarian Universalist seminary in Chicago I met two seminarians\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2008\/04\/unitarian-universalism-and-pacifism.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Monkey Mind\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/james.ford.1029\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-04-10T07:24:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-11-01T19:13:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_niPwTW3rBbU\/R_38TPD13fI\/AAAAAAAAA2I\/WOWtZ2CnsiI\/s400\/uumilitarychaplains.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James Ford\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James Ford\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2008\/04\/unitarian-universalism-and-pacifism.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2008\/04\/unitarian-universalism-and-pacifism.html\",\"name\":\"Unitarian Universalism and Pacifism\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2008-04-10T07:24:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-11-01T19:13:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/#\/schema\/person\/3f37f475fb5078d1e7faa93a63a0fddb\"},\"description\":\"When I spent my sabbatical last year as minister-in-residence at Meadville Lombard, our Unitarian Universalist seminary in Chicago I met two seminarians\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2008\/04\/unitarian-universalism-and-pacifism.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2008\/04\/unitarian-universalism-and-pacifism.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2008\/04\/unitarian-universalism-and-pacifism.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Unitarian Universalism and Pacifism\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/\",\"name\":\"Monkey Mind\",\"description\":\"Easily distracted...\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/#\/schema\/person\/3f37f475fb5078d1e7faa93a63a0fddb\",\"name\":\"James Ford\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fa18971b225a3bb79f0c4c381a5fae20?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fa18971b225a3bb79f0c4c381a5fae20?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"James Ford\"},\"description\":\"James Ishmael Ford is a writer and spiritual director. 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