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Volume 14 SPRING/SUMMER 2007
CONTENTS The Reality of War and the Possibility of Peace
About the Contributors Preface: The Reality of War and the Possibility of Peace ARTICLES Fierce Urgency for the Rights of All: Democratic Power and the Choice of Conflict Educating the Deeper Desires of Our Natures and Forming Artisans of Peace: The l’Arche and Intercordia Initiatives of Jean Vanier Selective Conscientious Objection and Just War Theory The Culture of Peace, But What About the Culture of War?: The Voice of Children and Adolescents Military Families Speak Out: Challenging the Epistemology of War Education for and Education About Peace–Feminist Analysis SELECTED BOOK and FILM REVIEWS BOOKS Douglas Allen, ed., Comparative Philosophy and Religion in Times of Terror Joyce Appleby, A Restless Past: History and the American Public William Sims Bainbridge, God From the Machine: Artificial Intelligence Models of Religious Cognition Elliot D. Cohen, The New Rational Therapy: Thinking Your Way to Serenity, Success, and Profound Happiness Jack S. Crumley, A Brief Introduction to the Philosophy of Mind Roger S. Gottlieb, A Greener Faith: Religious Environmentalism and Our Planet’s Future Stephen H. Kellert, Helen E. Longino, and C. Kenneth Waters, eds. Scientific Pluralism Mark Munn, The Mother of the Gods, Athens, and the Tyranny of Asia: A Study of Sovereignty in Ancient Religion Katharine A. Rodger, ed., Breaking Through: Essays, Journals, and Travelogues of Edward Ricketts Michael Ruse, The Evolution-Creation Struggle Raphael Sassower and Louis Cicotello, Political Blind Spots: Reading the Ideology of Images Kevin Sharpe, Science of God: Truth in the Age of Science Marcella Bakur Weiner, Paul C. Cooper, and Claude Barbre, eds., Psychotherapy and Religion: Many Paths, One Journey Elliot R. Wolfson. Alef, Mem, Tau: Kabbalistic Musings on Time, Truth, and Death Israel Jacob Yuval, Two Nations in Your Womb: Perceptions of Jews and Christians in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages
FILMS Bob Hercules and Cheri Pugh, Forgiving Dr. Mengele Aliona van der Horst, The Hermitage Dwellers BOOKS OF NOTE Abstracts Of Current Issue
Educating the Deeper Desires of Our Natures and Forming Artisans of Peace: In contrast to the spirit of competition and conflict that mark our civilization, Jean Vanier, through his l’Arche communities and an academic innovation he calls Intercordia, has sought to promote a spirit of peace and concord through a re-shaping of our vision of the human. Central to this re-shaping is the conviction that the loving acceptance of our own weakness and vulnerability can be taught to us by those who are themselves weak and vulnerable. Those who are outcasts from the world of competition and conflict are, paradoxically, our strongest and best teachers. To learn their secret is to start out anew on the road to peace.
Selective Conscientious Objection and Just War Theory Selective conscientious objection to war is discussed in the context of just war theory and American law. Selective conscientious objection is the refusal to participate in a particular war because it is judged to be unjust. It draws from the Roman Catholic tradition’s account of just war and its view of the obligation to refuse participation in unjust wars. It argues that selective conscientious objection is central to the application of just war theory precisely because it is not permitted by American law. The Culture of Peace, But What About the Culture of War?: The culture of peace is discussed along with its presence in contemporary society, and the constraints of the culture of war. Because the way children and adolescents perceive peace and war are thought to be a product of socialization processes and reflect the prevailing attitudes toward peace and war in their environment (i.e. society), their conceptions were taken as indicator for the presence of a culture of peace. Our findings suggest that instead of a shift from a culture of war to a culture of peace, a shift has taken place from a culture of traditional war to an even more uncertain and threatening culture of war on terrorism.
Military Families Speak Out: Public debate on war has long been dominated by “experts” who accept war’s rationality, while radical critics of militarism have been relegated to the margins of public discourse. This paper argues that the narrow character of war debate is due, in part, to conceptions of epistemic authority that systematically favor war-oriented thinking and that, therefore, genuinely radical, anti-war perspectives can gain ground only if we challenge, not only the content, but the basic epistemic premises of public discourse. I investigate how one group of anti-war activists—mothers and wives of soldiers—have begun to present such a challenge. In light of their practice of alternative forms of authority, I sketch the kind of rethinking of authority that peace activists must pursue in order to bring human concerns and nonviolent perspectives to the center of public debates about war.
Education For and Education About Peace—A Feminist Analysis This article makes a distinction between educating for peace and educating about peace. While educating for peace deals with the affective way of learning, educating about peace deals more with the cognitive side. While educating for peace deals with attitudes and a change in behavior, educating about peace has more to do with presentation of information and building of knowledge. An example is given from a school where the teachers sought to engage also the affective side of the pupils when they learned about structural violence. The article looks at the peace concept, and at the sexist language used in the arms race. It pays a visit to some learning material for peace education used in Swedish schools and the invisibility of women working for peace.
The cover design for the SPRING/SUMMER 2007 issue of BRIDGES was created by Mr. Ty Bachus.
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