All about peace

I finally read The Peaceable Kingdom by Stanley Hauerwas. I enjoyed it and wanted to share some of what he said in that book that appealed to me.

Hauerwas says that "Nonviolence is the hallmark of the Christian moral life." In further discussion or perhaps explanation of this statement he goes on to say:

"I hope to show that such a stance is not just an option for a few, but incumbent on all Christians who seek to live faithfully in the kingdom made possible by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Nonviolence is not one among other behavioral implications that can be drawn from the gospel but is integral to the shape of Christian convictions."

This was all said in the introduction to the book so I was excited to see what else he might have to add to the discussion about nonviolence's central role in the Christian life. A few posts back I said that I am not out to convert all Christians to a life of pacifism and that is true but I do agree with Hauerwas that nonviolence is central to the Christian life.

We need to stop separating what we believe with the way we live our lives. As Hauerwas says later in the book "a truth that must be defended by violence is no truth at all." If only Christians (and Jews and Muslims) would only see this statement as true and stop trying to defend "truth" with violence.

Fear?

So I was looking at some books at the school I work at and found a book called "20 Most Asked Questions about the Amish and Mennonites." I had passed on buying this book a couple months ago while in Indiana so I checked it out. Most of what I read was a refresher of what I already know about this group of people.

In this book there was a comment that made me think. In the brief chapter about pacifism the authors mentioned that throughout history people have lived in fear of those who refuse to go to war. I have no idea what they mean and wonder if it is true.

So what do you think? Are people genuinely fearful of those who refuse to go to war? If so, why is this? Please enlighten me on the subject.