Writing in the Sept. 12 issue of the Mennonite Weekly Review, Andre Gingerich Stoner observes that leaders of Christian churches from around the world are increasingly concluding that the just war theory is obsolete. Stoner is director of holistic witness and interchurch relations for Mennonite Church USA. Here is his commentary:
Just war concept obsolete
by André Gingerich Stoner
Mennonite Weekly Review
In a remarkable shift, a key World Council of Churches statement describes the concept of a just war as obsolete. It calls for a fundamental shift in ethical practice to what it calls “just peace.”
The Ecumenical Call to Just Peace repeatedly lifts up the life, teachings, death and resurrection of Jesus as the model for Christian peacemaking.
The 13-page document is peppered with sentences like, “Jesus told us to love our enemies, pray for our persecutors, and not to use deadly weapons … Despite persecution, he remains steadfast in his active nonviolence, even to death.”
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