Mary,
Again, perhaps I am simple, but I don't understand why you and some others
seem to be taking issue with me on this. My original post said that while
the church tends (in an activist way in my experience) towards holding to a
higher ideal such as pacifism or being against war, it did teach me that
self-defense is allowable and that we must stand against evil (i.e., the
"just war" doctrine). I don't disagree with the history and more detailed
doctrinal explanations that you and others have put forth here. In my
simple mind, we are saying the same thing. The odd thing though is when *I*
say it, somehow some people feel compelled to take issue with it. Go
figure.
>From what I've seen in my life, peoples' experience of Catholism differs all
over the world and in the U.S. itself. The form of Catholism I was exposed
to from an early age, I would say was very much influenced by the
progressive liberal branch of the church which came into prominence in the
early 60s (when I began my Catholic education). It was not especially
radical - it did not take the Berrigan brothers completely to heart as
gospel, for example, but it was revolutionary, I imagine, in comparison to
the church of old. I wasn't going to relate my experiences but maybe I
should if it will give any more insight to my statements. At a time when
corporal punishment was still fairly common in schools, my Catholic school
was firmly against it and considered it violent. The school did not even
mete out any form of punishment that could in any way be seen as harsh.
That school is where I first heard of the build-up of forces in Vietnam in
around 1966. We were exhorted to not only pray to end that war but to go
around and write messages wherever we could that would say "Pray to stop the
war in Vietnam." I did as I was told, of course, actually writing these
words all over the inside of my friend's playhouse down the street! We were
constantly told about Sister Mary Corita, whose art work and banners became
staples in the anti-war movement a few years later. I could go on and on
with my experiences of the church, including the church I attended in
college in Arizona. I also am well-read on the history of the church and
the writings of Aquinas and Augustine. I also had two Catholic activist
aunts who were nuns who sought to influence me. The bottom line is that we
are all saying the same
thing, but I have not been inaccurate in my statements regarding the
church's anti-war activism in
the past several decades. If it only happened in my experiences in
California and Arizona, that still does not negate that it happened.
Kakki
