RELG 339 Seminar: Religion, War, and Peace
Instructor: Joyce McClure Class meetings: Mudd 050
Department of Religion or Rice 320 when no film listed
Oberlin College
Office: Rice 332
Phone: ext. 8534
E-mail: joyce.mcclure@oberlin.edu
Office Hours Drop-in: Mon. and Wed., 2:30-3:30, or by appointment if necessary
Objective: This course begins with an examination of various ways Christian thinkers have
grappled with competing claims of just war and pacifism. In modern times, a key part of
the war and peace complex of issues has been nuclear deterrence, so deterrence is also an
important ethical consideration. Looking at nuclear deterrence involves an analysis of the
development of the distinctly modern search for authority and guidance in the realms of
science and probability. In the last two decades, the Middle East has been the locus of
much conflict, including the Gulf War in 1991. To better understand this conflict and the
potential for future conflicts, the course concludes with an exploration of understandings
of war in Islam and Judaism, particularly as they were invoked during the Gulf War. It is
hoped that through careful readings, film viewing, and class discussion, students will gain
an appreciation of the complexity of questions related to war and peace.
Course Requirements:
Students must meet all course requirements, including attendance, to pass this course.
Attendance: Students are expected to attend all class meetings. Should an absence be
necessary, the student is completely responsible for obtaining information disseminated at the missed
meeting. Repeated absences will exert a downward pressure on the final grade. Excessive absences
could result in failure of course.
Reading Questions: Students are required to submit two questions based on the readings
for the week. These questions should be well thought out, fully articulated, and
designed to initiate discussion. For each question, students should provide a
quotation from the reading which evokes or shapes the question, or sets a
direction for addressing the question. The questions are due by 10 a.m. on the
day of each class meeting, and may be submitted as an email—pasted in, not an
attachment, or in writing and delivered to my box in Rice 316.
Papers: Students are required to submit two eight page papers that critically engage the
material from the current section. Students may draw on both films and texts, but they must draw
upon at least two texts to a significant degree. More about this requirement will be explained in class.
(If a student has prior approval to take this course for Law and Society credit, the student must see
the instructor, as the paper assignment is completely different to meet the objectives of the Law and
Society major.)
Grading: Attendance and weekly reading questions: 20%
Papers: 40% each
Please note: Extensions on papers and reading questions will be granted only for
true emergencies, such as a death in the family. The honor code applies throughout the course,
including appeals for extensions. Late papers, those received after the time indicated for the due
date, will be penalized.
Required Readings:
Texts available for purchase at CO-OP Bookstore:
Lisa Sowle Cahill, Love Your Enemies
Stanley Hauerwas, The Peaceable Kingdom
Thich Nhat Hanh, Love in Action
National Conference of Catholic Bishops, The Challenge of Peace
Michael Walzer, Just and Unjust Wars
Kenneth L. Vaux, Ethics and the Gulf War
John Howard Yoder, Nevertheless
John H. Yoder, What Would You Do?
The following text is only available through OhioLink, plus one reserve copy:
Oliver O’Donovan, Peace and Certainty
(Students might be able to purchase used copies on Amazon.com)
All other material is available on reserve. All texts are also available on reserve.
Required Film Viewing:
Apocalypse Now
Fail Safe
Gandhi
Heaven and Earth
The Mission
Romero
[Recommended: Threads]
Please note: Films viewing will be discussed during the first class. Students should be prepared
to discuss each film at the class meeting the following week. Reading questions may
bring together material from the reading assignment and films, but they must focus on the readings.
Films will be available on reserve in the audiovisual department of Mudd Library.
Assignment Schedule:
February 7 Introduction
►film: Apocalypse Now
February 14 Cahill, Love Your Enemies, pp. 1-80
February 21 Cahill, Love Your Enemies, pp. 81-177
►film: The Mission
February 28 Cahill, Love Your Enemies, pp. 179-246
March 7 National Conference of Catholic Bishops, The Challenge of Peace, pp. 25-52
Walzer, Just and Unjust Wars, pp. 21-24; 51-108; 197-206; 304-327
►film: Heaven and Earth
March 14 Nhat Hanh, Love in Action
►film: Fail Safe
[►recommended film: Threads]
March 19 First paper due, 4:30 p.m., my mailbox, Rice 316
March 21 Walzer, Just and Unjust Wars, pp. 269-283
David Novak, Jewish Social Ethics, "Nuclear War and the Prohibition of
Wanton Destruction," pp. 118-129
Oliver O’Donovan, Peace and Certainty, pp. 1-125
National Conference of Catholic Bishops, The Challenge of Peace, pp. 53-84;
also skim 85-113
SPRING BREAK
April 4 Yoder, Nevertheless, pp. 1-114
April 11 Yoder, Nevertheless, pp. 115-143
Yoder, What Would You Do? pp. 11-141
►film: Gandhi
April 18 Hauerwas, The Peaceable Kingdom, pp. 1-49, 72-115
H. Richard Niebuhr, "The Grace of Doing Nothing," Christian Century 49
(March 23, 1932), 378-380
Reinhold Niebuhr, "Must We Do Nothing?" Christian Century 49 (March 30,
1932), 415-417
Hauerwas, The Peaceable Kingdom, pp. 135-151
►film: Romero
April 25 Christian Smith, The Emergence of Liberation Theology, "Introduction," "A
Brief History," and "What Is Liberation Theology?," pp. 1-50
Thomas Schubeck, Liberation Ethics, "Introduction," "Social Analysis and
Ethics," and "Ethics of Power," pp. 1-14, 87-127,
and 203-229
May 2 Vaux, Ethics and the Gulf War, pp. 1-62
Everett E. Gendler, "War and the Jewish Tradition," pp. 189-209
Irving Greenberg, "The Ethics of Jewish Power," pp. 403-421
May 9 Vaux, Ethics and the Gulf War, pp 63-86
Richard C. Martin, "The Religious Foundations of War, Peace, and Statecraft in
Islam," pp. 91-112
Ann Elizabeth Mayer, "War and Peace in the Islamic Tradition and International
War," pp. 195-220
Vaux, Ethics and the Gulf War, pp. 120-165
Sohail Hashmi, pp. 158-180: "Saving and Taking Life in War: Three Modern
Muslim Views," The Muslim World, 89/2, 1999.
May 14 Second paper due by 4:30 p.m. in my mailbox, Rice 316.