John Dear's pacifism

* Jesuit Fr. John Dear's Viewpoint piece (NCR, Jan. 25) was rife with many ironies, but the principal one is Fr. Dear's embrace of a fundamentalism that the Jesus to whom he is so passionately committed clearly rejected. In Fr. Dear's world, the military is evil and pacifism is the only Christian way. One can only be an authentic Jesuit by embracing pacifism and not "having to do with any military anywhere." I would love to live in a world so black and white, in which the answers to our problems are so simple.

Unfortunately, I have to live in the real world where things are not so clear-cut. For example, the world has been clamoring for a robust intervention in the crisis in Darfur, but for such intervention to be effective it would require well-trained, disciplined soldiers to serve as a counterweight to the government and militia forces now acting with impunity. The world is complex, and Jesus expected us to use the intellect with which God gifted us to make wise choices, to discern that to which we are called in the midst of complex realities. Jesus' insight formed the core of St. Ignatius' Spiritual Exercises, the discernment of spirits. Fr. Dear's fundamentalist world is attractive, but I prefer Jesus' world, in which we discern as adults what our God calls us to do in the hard realities of life, knowing that the world is not black or white, good or evil, but an admixture of both.

(Fr.) MARK HALLINAN, S.J.

New York

* Is high school ROTC "an evil program" that trains young people "how to murder"? Fr. John Dear thinks so. When I was in high school ROTC, I recall being taught military history, drill, first aid, map reading, and the Use of the Springfield rifle, a single-shot, bolt-action gun. Murder wasn't in the syllabus. He says it is "shocking and scandalous" that a priest would be a military chaplain in Iraq or West Point. The problem is not chaplains teaching ethics or morality. Problems arise when they don't teach these subjects.

Fr. Dear doesn't just want individual Christians to be noncombatants; he wants to eliminate militaries and weapons from the world. Does he also want to eliminate police forces? As long as there is sin, there will be need for the use of force. Scripture says this is in accordance with God's will (Romans 13). Christians may choose not to participate, but nowhere does scripture call on Christians to seek to take away police and military powers from secular governments.

WILLIAM CORK

Houston

* Jesuit Fr. John Dear's article fits well into today's political climate. It appears we can expect about the same level of honesty from some of the clergy. I'm truly saddened that so many people in positions of leadership feel it's all right to play loose with the truth in order to make their point. For this reason I take umbrage at Fr. Dear's remarks. His statements make me cringe, such as: "Most of our universities and high schools train young people to kill in an evil program called ROTC." Then again he Says, "I don't understand how we claim to follow the nonviolent Jesus yet support someone who works in a torture center." This is akin to saying that we're sending our young men to seminaries to teach them to molest children.

While he's entitled to his opinion, I maintain that when the facts do not justify the opinion, it's time to change it. Lies and misrepresentations do not make an opinion correct. I question what drives a man to speak such vile rhetoric, besmirching the servicemen and women who fought and are still fighting for his freedom to say it.

ARNULT MITCHELL

Carlsbad, N.M.

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