Abby came through her surgery like a champ and is doing well. Her mom and I are heading back to the hospital today to see her and if all goes well there’s a good chance she’ll be home tonight. Thanks for all your prayers and good wishes.

Meanwhile, do read this post from Jim Henley of Unqualified Offerings. I’d underline one point that he makes – even though we talk about war as a “last resort,” we don’t put nearly the kind of resources into seeking nonviolent solutions to conflict and injustice as we do in supporting war. So how can we truly say that nonviolent means of dealing with a particular situation have been exhausted when we go to war?

In his book When War Is Unjust: Being Honest in Just-War Thinking, John Howard Yoder wrote:

What constitutes a situation of last resort is not something that can be decided only at the last minute or only by one party. What is decisive to determine whether efforts to resolve political conflicts by means less destructive than war have been adequate will largely depend on whether there was any disposition or plan to attempt to use such prior means in the first place. (p. 72)

In other words, can we legitimately invoke “last resort” if there isn’t some kind of institutionalized commitment to seeking and supporting nonviolent solutions to conflicts?

In this light, the idea of a “Department of Peace” as proposed by Dennis Kucinich during the 2004 presidential primaries doesn’t sound quite so hippy-dippy. Interestingly, Congressman Kucinich wasn’t the first person to propose such a department. The creation of a “Peace-Office for the United States” to counter impulses toward militarism was idea floated early in the Republic’s existence. One such proponent was Benjamin Rush, signer of the Declaration of Independence, surgeon general of the Continental Army, treasurer of the U.S. Mint, and abolitionist among other things. According to Arthur A. Ekirch’s history of the American antimilitarist tradition, Rush proposed the idea of an Peace Office in 1798.

Although Rush had in mind particularly the recurrent wars with the Indians, his plan was also a thorough attack on other evidences of militarism. He urged the repeal of all capital punishment and militia laws, and the avoidance of any sort of military displays and titles. Finally, he recommended the establishment of a peace museum in Federal Hall to offer a favorable contrast to another room, inscribed ‘National Glory,’ in which the horrors of war would be depicted. Over the portals of the Department of War there would be painted the captions: ‘An office for butchering the human species,’ ‘A Widow and Orphan making office.’ (p. 43)