“I hate Japs. I’m telling you men that if I met a pregnant Japanese woman, I’d kick her in the belly.” — Remark attributed to Admiral William Halsey, commander of US naval forces in the South Pacific during the Second World War[1] “Tsubachan, I’m sorry I couldn’t give birth to you. I would have loved … Continue reading The Wages of War: How Abortion Came to Japan
Extermination by Hunger: Red Famine’s Story of Lethal Injustice
Joseph Stalin took a fateful trip to Siberia in January, 1928. Stalin, soon to become the Soviet Union’s supreme leader, traveled to the country’s outskirts to identify the causes of poor agricultural production and food shortages. He concluded that Soviet farming was too small-scale: most peasants tended small farms that were not economically efficient, while … Continue reading Extermination by Hunger: Red Famine’s Story of Lethal Injustice
Finding Common Ground on and Learning from World War II
Writing on the Consistent Life Network's blog, Rachel MacNair recently examined several moral issues related to the Second World War and how we interpret and remember that war today.[1] An observation in that piece that struck me was that when a nonviolence advocate discusses war with someone who supports it, a war supporter who “understands things as … Continue reading Finding Common Ground on and Learning from World War II
Seeking Peaceful Coexistence: The Varied Ways of Supporting a Consistent Life Ethic
That consistent ethic of life advocates are at odds with more conventional American political categories—conservative, liberal, libertarian—is well recognized. Less often recognized are the ways different consistent life ethic advocates diverge from each other and the tensions this can cause. People can understand the consistent life ethic in different ways and have different reasons for … Continue reading Seeking Peaceful Coexistence: The Varied Ways of Supporting a Consistent Life Ethic
Pro-Peace from Left and Right
These remarks were given by John Whitehead at the Pro-life March to Abolish Nuclear weapons, held in Washington, DC, on September 9, 2017. The theme of this rally and march, opposition to nuclear weapons from a pro-life perspective, has been at the heart of the Consistent Life Network from the very beginning. We were originally an … Continue reading Pro-Peace from Left and Right
Making the Case for Peace to Conservatives
In the United States, political conservatives tend to support American wars and military interventions abroad and generally favor a hawkish foreign policy. People dedicated to peace and alternatives to violence need to persuade such conservatives to oppose US military action more often. Persuading people, whatever their ideological affiliation, to change their minds is extremely difficult. … Continue reading Making the Case for Peace to Conservatives
“More Lives Were Saved”: Annihilated Cities and Choosing the Lesser Evil
The American atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (whose 72nd anniversaries were this past summer) have long been defended because they supposedly saved more lives than they destroyed. By using atomic bombs to force Japan’s surrender in August 1945, the United States (so the argument goes) avoided either an American invasion of Japan or a … Continue reading “More Lives Were Saved”: Annihilated Cities and Choosing the Lesser Evil
Using Empathy during a New Cold War
An American contemplating the hostile state of current US-Russian relations might well be pessimistic. Russia, this American observer might conclude, is an implacably hostile enemy whose actions reflect Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ambition to act aggressively abroad while suppressing dissent at home. From this perspective, America has no choice but to wage a new Cold … Continue reading Using Empathy during a New Cold War
Engagement, Not Confrontation: The Need for a New US Policy toward Russia
America and Russia are currently engaged in a new Cold War: a conflict marked by mutual suspicion and hostility; confrontation in certain regions of the world, such as Ukraine and Syria; and at least potential military competition. Over a quarter-century after the last Cold War ended with the Soviet Union’s formal dissolution in December 1991, … Continue reading Engagement, Not Confrontation: The Need for a New US Policy toward Russia
Self-Defeating Violence: The Case of the First World War
The United States recently reached the 100th anniversary of American entry into the First World War. Although American businesses had provided arms and money to the Allied nations (which included Britain, France and Russia) in their war against Germany and the other Central Powers, US President Woodrow Wilson had sought to avoid sending American troops … Continue reading Self-Defeating Violence: The Case of the First World War
Peacemaking for Life 