James Naughtie,The Accidental American: Tony Blair and the Presidency

Abstract

The terms "justice" and "necessity" are often employed in discussions of war. The just war tradition seeks to delineate when wars are and are not just; other theologians who do not find this approach helpful may nevertheless resort to the logic of necessity. Although unjust, some wars may still be deemed necessary. Barth employs both the language and logic of justice and necessity in his approach to war. The purpose of this paper is to address Barth's exposition of war in relation to his approach to divine justice and the necessity of Christian affliction. It does not attempt to make any large claims about the just war tradition or other approaches to war. Rather, it is intended to be an immanent critique of Barth from Barth's own theology, showing that, although consistent with his view of church and state, Barth's theology of war is inconsistent with his view of both God's character as just and the external necessity of affliction to Christian witness.     

"Oh Mary,Don't You Weep": Progressive Religion in the Living Wage Movement

Abstract

Despite religion's absence in much of secular labor and social movement theories' analyses, progressive religious coalitions are a fundamental partner in the rise of new labor activism in the United States. At a time when media and academia focus on the strength of the "religious right" at the federal level, the success of the municipal living wage movement demonstrates the under-recognized power of the "religious left" in cities around the nation. Through examples from case studies, I document the importance of progressive religion's material and cultural contributions to the movement. In the end, I also contend that paying attention to the successful dynamics of religion-labor alliances at the municipal level can provide important lessons for revitalizing progressive religion's role at the federal level.     

The fall of Zion and the revelation of the law

Abstract

Did the Egyptians Die in a Storm? F. M. Cross and D. N. Freedman have argued that Exodus 15,1–19 presents a version of the crossing of the Reed Sea in which the Israelites are pursued by the Egyptians across a storm‐tossed sea in boats, instead of across the dry seabed with the waters in walls on either side. The central argument hinges on the meaning of qp’ and nd (v 8) in the light of comparative philology; however, careful application of comparative philology does not support their thesis.     

Religion,Greed, and the Insanity of War

Abstract

This article quantifies only a brief encounter with the violent intersection of religion, business, and war. It surveys war in the modern world by including the following topics: the effects of war such as environmental degradation; psychological costs, including post-traumatic stress syndrome and chronic fatigue syndrome; violence against females; children at war; costs of war; causes of war and globalization. It wonders if there is such a thing as a killer-instinct that needs an antidote. Several religions from East and West, violent and non-violent, are discussed against the backdrop of war noting the presence of warrior gods and sacrifice. Finally the economic and pseudo-creative benefits of war are summarized. Selvidge poses a final question to readers, "How can we change the direction of a world gone mad?"     

Mission Impossible: "Nonsectarian" Prayer in the Military Chaplaincy

Abstract

Recent media-saturated events such as then-Navy Chaplain Klingenschmitt's hunger strike in front of the White House, an ultimately unsuccessful class-action lawsuit against the Navy that alleged discrimination against evangelical Christians, and formal charges of religious bias at the US Air Force Academy have renewed concerns about the content of chaplain-led public prayers in ostensibly secular contexts. Some have accordingly touted the advantages of offering "nonsectarian" prayer in command-hosted settings, where attendance by service personnel is mandatory in a real or de facto sense. This paper argues that this push toward nonsectarian prayer ultimately does a disservice to the chaplains themselves and the religious communities from whence they come, whether civic prayer is interpreted as an instance of "ceremonial deism" or a rite of civil religion. But the solution it offers is not for public prayers to become more religiously particular, but for military commanders to cease requesting that chaplains lead public prayer of any kind in such settings.     

Armitage on Locke on International Theory: The Two Treatises of Government and the Right of Intervention

Summary

The paper examines David Armitage's claim that Locke makes an important contribution to international theory by exploring the place of international relations within the Two Treatises of Government. Armitage's suggestion is that the place of international theory in Locke's canonical works is under-explored. In particular, the paper examines the implication of Locke's account of the executive power of the law of nature which allows third parties to punish breaches of the law of nature wherever they occur. The corollary is a general right of intervention under the law of nature. Such a right could create a chaotic individualistic cosmopolitanism and has led scholars such as John Rawls to claim that Locke has no international theory. In response to this problem the paper explores the way in which Locke's discussion of conquest, revolution and the right of peoples to determine the conditions of good government in chapters xvi to xix of the second Treatise contributes to a view of international relations that embodies a law of peoples.     

A CAPTIVE'S STORY: PURITANS,PIRATES, AND THE DRAMA OF RECONCILIATION

Abstract

This essay examines the use of Hebrew sources in debates on church and state in civil war England. It fits within a developing historiography that seeks to uncover the deeper texture of early modern political discourse, and also poses questions about the prevalence of statist and secular understandings of public power in the context of the English civil war. Its specific focus is on debates on church government in the 1640s, studies of the Hebrew commonwealth in the 1650s, and the use of Hebraism by Hobbes and Harrington as an antidote to clericalism.     

Between the "Already" and the "Not Yet": A Peace Perspective and a Catholic Theological Viewpoint on Religion and Politics

Abstract

Taking an interdisciplinary approach, this article questions the mainstream idea about the relationship between religion and politics that associates the church and state separation with a strict private—public division. Agreeing with the former distinction, we criticize the latter from the perspectives of both Catholic theology and peace and conflict studies. Both fields offer adequate reasons to challenge this narrow dualism, envisioning the spheres of religion and politics as complementary and mutually enriching. In response to increased violence involving religions across the globe, "religious peacebuilding" is currently developing approaches to explain such conflicts and inform peacebuilding methods and strategies. Additionally, the theological-emphasis on the eschatological presence of the "already" appeals to Catholic faith to pertinently reflect upon and frame public life. Consequently, we plead for the critical and beneficial engagement of religions in the public sphere as "not yet" sufficiently acknowledged.     

"善良"与"人性"的质疑--大冈升平的《俘虏记》主题批判

《俘虏记》是日本战后文学中具有广泛影响的反映日本侵略战争的作品之一。小说中,作家以主人公“我”没有向美国士兵开枪为主要情节,说明作为侵略士兵的“我”是“善良的”和“有人性的”。这显然是在为日本士兵的侵略罪行辩解。通读作品,我们会发现,主人公“我”之所以没有开枪,是因为想不被追击的美军发现,保全自己的生命。显然,作家在这里偷换了概念,其用心是为了掩盖日本侵略军的野蛮行径。因此,对这篇小说的错误战争认知理念。我们应当以批判的态度来分析。     

Ben Quilty: the fog of war

ABSTRACT

This essay looks at the war paintings of Ben Quilty, who in October 2011 was stationed with Australian troops fighting against the Taliban in Afghanistan as part of Australia’s Official War Art Scheme. Quilty’s portraits, in fact made back at home in his studio after he returned, show soldiers naked, in pain, reliving traumatic episodes from their war experiences. They have been almost universally praised as providing a new and compelling image of war for those who have not experienced it themselves. We examine these portraits closely, arguing that they express a new post-modern ideology of “interpassivity”, allowing the spectator to exhibit signs of concern for soldiers, without actually doing anything to change their situation. In this we suggest that Quilty’s paintings contain a meaning that goes against the intentions of the artist and the understanding of their audience. Contrary to their dominant reading, they express something about our culture that our culture is unable to admit about itself.     

Neither Cyclops nor Sophist: Christian Formation Against the State

Abstract

This article identifies a deep paradox at the heart of the modern state—in its ability and professed purposes to form the moral characters of its citizens—and then offers a Christian response. Were it not for the manifest success of states in persisting in this paradox, it would delegitimize them on grounds of incoherence and duplicity. In an argument that is occasionally Aristotelian, the article shows how modern (secular, liberal) states morally form citizens who willingly submit to the state's formation on grounds that the state has legitimacy so long as it does not claim moral authority. This line of reasoning is explicated with reference to Sheldon Wolin on Alexander Hamilton and feudalism as well as Martha Nussbaum on Aristotle. In response, Christian freedom, ecclesial peoplehood, and poverty not only run counter to state formation but positively resist it.     

Changing views of women in society, 1975

Ernestine Friedl. Women and Men: An Anthropologist's View. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1975. xi + 148 pp. Illustrations, map, references, and relevant case studies. $3.50 (paper).

M. Kay Martin and Barbara Voorhies. The Female of the Species. New York and London: Columbia University Press, 1975. x + 432 pp. Tables, figures, illustrations, references, and index. $15.00 (cloth), $6.50 (paper).

Evelyn Reed. Woman's Evolution: From Matriarchal Clan to Patriarchal Family. New York: Pathfinder Press, 1975. xviii + 491 pp. Glossary, Bibliography, and index. $15. (cloth), $4.95 (paper).     

In God We Trust: Abraham Lincoln and America's Deathbed Repentance

Abstract

This article maps several key moments in the evolution of religious symbolism and language on US currency, focusing largely on Abraham Lincoln's overlooked role in signing the motto "In God We Trust" into law. Interpreting the motto through the lens of Lincoln's "Second Inaugural Address"—which he delivered just one day after Congress passed the first statute allowing "In God We Trust" to be stamped on US coins—offers a counter-intuitive interpretation of the motto that functions as a deep, ironic, and historically significant critique of religious nationalism.     

Body as weapon: the archaeology of a war victim’s narrative

ABSTRACT

The soldier's body is the most important subject of violence and destruction in war. Humans live primarily through their body in the material world, and when the body is destroyed, their whole existence is affected, both physically and non-physically. Therefore, the first locus on which we can observe the effects of war and violence is the human body, mainly soldiers. In modern wars, the soldier’s body is combined with weapons and machines of war, but is also the first target of killing whether in attack or defence. On the one hand it is targeted and killed, but on the other hand the body itself targets and kills. In warfare, bodies are trained to be the mechanism of killing and they are employed on battlefields according to the political objectives of their sovereign power. Thus, the soldier’s body becomes a weapon separated from the individual human body by the political authority.     

Atomic structures: the architecture of nuclear nationalism in India and Pakistan

Abstract

A half-century after their completion, India’s Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and the Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology (PINSTECH) stand out as unchallenged architectural advertisements for ‘nuclear nationalism’. Elsewhere, Atoms for Peace reactors made no pretence to architectural refinement. In the right hands, however, ‘Cold War Modern’ could express the hard power of the nuclear age. For India and Pakistan, these nuclear laboratory complexes became the public faces of the peaceful atom that held out the promise, and masked the peril, of the atomic age at home and abroad, and deliberately deflected attention away from clandestine nuclear weapons programmes. BARC and PINSTECH, envisioned as cornerstones for self-confident and self-reliant programmes of nuclear physics, embodied the paradox of postcolonial science, necessarily borrowing from the West but determined to break the cycle of dependency, in defiance of Western expectations.     

A New Model of Executive Power: A Montesquieuan Explanation of the Obama Presidency

Abstract

The perennial concern over executive overreach continues well into Obama's presidency, leading many to wonder if the “unitary executive” is here to stay. Discussions of executive war powers focus on three models. The Hamiltonian perspective gives presidents the lead position in foreign affairs; the second model, following Madison, presents Congress as the leader when initiating hostilities. Finally, Jeffersonians present emergency powers as extra-legal, giving presidents a sphere of actions that cannot be contained within constitutional discussions. Problematically, current scholarship implicitly or explicitly grounds these explanations in Locke's political philosophy. This occurs despite a dearth of references to Locke during the Constitutional Convention and infrequent references to his thought during early debates over executive-congressional divisions of war powers. Comparatively, all of these seminal American figures frequently mention Montesquieu, often fighting over the specifics of his theory. While scholars widely acknowledge this influence, they rarely mention him during discussions of war powers or the nature of executive power in general. This article examines the Montesquieuan understanding of executive power and shows how this model represents a viable alternative to the Lockean one. Most importantly, examining the executive from a Montesquieuan perspective provides solutions to current problems that the Lockean perspective does not.     

Book reviews

Economies of Signs & Space. Scott Lash and John Urry, London, Sage Publications, 1994, IV + 360 pp, £45.00 hb, ISBN 0 8039 8471 5; £13.95 pb, ISBN 0 8039 8472 3

Housing Policy in Action: The New Financial Regime for Council Housing. Peter Malpass, Matthew Warburton, Glen Bramley and Gavin Smart, SAUS Study 8, School for Advanced Urban Studies, University of Bristol, 1993, pp. XV+ 115, £9.75, ISBN 1 873575 47 5

Glasgow: The Forming of a City. Peter Reed (Ed.), Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press, V+ 233 pp., £25.00, ISBN 0 7486 0246 1

Urban Land and Property Markets in Germany, European Land and Property Markets 2. H. Dietrich, E. Dransfeld and W. Voss, London, UCL Press, 288 pp, £40.00, ISBN 1 85728 049 0

The Politics of Local Economic Policy: Problems and Possibilities of Local Initiative. Aram Eisenschitz and Jamie Gough, London, Macmillan 1993, XIV + 309 pp, £14.99 pb, ISBN 0 33352 175 7

Planning at the Crossroads. James Simmie, London: UCL Press, 1993, 208 pp, £35.00, ISBN 1 85728 024 5, hb; 1 85728 025 3, pb; £12.95

The Political Culture of Planning: American Land Use Planning in a Comparative Perspective. J. Barry Cullingworth, New York and London, Routledge, 1993, XVII – 350 pp, £45.00, ISBN 0 415 08812 7, hb     

The experience and the idea of war in the writings of Simone Weil and Marguerite Duras

Abstract

This article considers the works of Simone Weil and Marguerite Duras as witnesses and narrators of the events of the Second World War. Their two perspectives offer a first, original reflection by women intellectuals on war and violence based on direct involvement. Simone Weil construed her idea of ‘force’ from her first-hand experience of the Spanish Civil War and her participation in the French Resistance, in London. Marguerite Duras offered her personal testimony of war violence (in the French Resistance, in France) intertwining fiction and reality, wavering together autobiography and invention. Duras, in the contrary, tried to represent the unrepresentable by connecting her personal to a collective trauma.     

"More than seven sons": Ruth as example of the good son

The Book of Ruth is a beautiful story about faithfulness, love, and the blessing of Yahweh, but it also consists of hints and clues that might seem unmotivated or loose. The name of the book, the connection to the days when the judges ruled, the storytellers discreet commentaries through the story, are some examples of such hints and clues. They give the text an atmosphere that disturbs the idyllic, naïve impression usually associated with Ruth . If we focus on the expression "more then seven sons" at the end of the story, and understand Ruth in the role as Naomi's son, many of these hints and clues fall into place. This article goes through the Book of Ruth focusing on this interpretation. With Ruth as the example of the good son, other sons, within or surrounding Ruth , fall short.