We’ve all heard the saying that if we don’t learn lessons from history, we are in danger of repeating it.
This is especially true for the bad things we’ve experienced. And it seems especially true about our history of violence and war.
This year in August the world marked the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. The United States dropped bombs on these cities during World War II.
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Is there such a thing as a just war? Can the massive death and destruction of armed conflict ever be morally justified by followers of the Prince of Peace?
For the first disciples of Christ the answer was a resounding “No!”
During the first 300 years of Christianity, it was unthinkable for followers of the nonviolent Jesus to kill a human being.
They took most seriously Jesus’ command: “But to you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other as well. . . . Put your sword back into its sheath, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.”
Typical of early Church teaching on nonviolence, St. Clement of Alexandria said to wealthy Christians, “Contrary to the rest of men, enlist for yourself an army without weapons, without war, without bloodshed, without wrath, without stain — pious old men, orphans dear to God, widows armed with gentleness, men adorned with love.”
St. Joseph School is donating $200 to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic School Region of Staten Island, N.Y., to help with the destruction caused by Super Storm Sandy.
