Pope Francis surely is a shepherd with the responsibility to guide his flock through history. He has the world’s ear – many are straining to hear him clearly…

It was a terrible anniversary. Seventy years ago this past week, at zero eight fifteen hours, August 6th, 1945, the Enola Gay, a U.S. Army Air Force B-29, dropped an 8,900-pound bomb, dubbed “Little Boy”, over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later a second bomb, Fat Man, fell upon Nagasaki.

God can be loved and worshipped on the battlefield, and pacifism as opposed to soldiering stands as an exception to the Christian norm.

In the just war tradition, war (and therefore torture) are not only sometimes morally permissible but obligatory in order to restrain the enemy from sin.

The headlines are exasperating, if a bit hyperbolic: Reuters writes, “Pope Says Weapons Manufacturers Can’t Call Themselves Christians” while the Daily Beast puts it, “Pope: Gun Makers Are Not Christians.”

Reflections on how people choose to spend Memorial Day and how this relates to Christian pacifism.