This summary is based on information from God's War by Christopher Tyerman (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2006). In the 4th century BCE, the Greek philosopher Aristotle outlined what he considered to be acceptable categories of warfare....

The United States entered World War I in April 1917. Shortly afterward, Congress passed the 1917 Espionage Act. The act made it a crime for people to speak out against the country's involvement in the war or to encourage draft resistance or conscientious objection. As a result of the act, several...

Activity time: 15 minutes Materials for Activity Handout 1, Just War Theory Handout 2, Pacifism Handout 3, Peacemaking Newsprint, markers, and tape Preparation for Activity Choose a conflict in the world about which people in your congregation are currently concerned. Briefly familiarize yourself...

Activity time: 15 minutes Materials for Activity Handout 4, Taft and Holmes Preparation for Activity Copy Handout 4 for all participants. Assign roles for the debate. Co-facilitators may want to play Taft and Holmes, or especially enthusiastic group members may be invited to take on this challenge.

Activity time: 20 minutes Materials for Activity Handout 3, Peacemaking Leader Resource 3, Beyond Just War and Pacifism Preparation for Activity Read Leader Resource 3 and discuss with your co-facilitator questions and responses you might have about Rasor's ideas or peacemaking....

Activity time: 25 minutes Materials for Activity Newsprint, markers, and tape A copy of the story "The Taft-Holmes Debate" Workshop 2, Handout 1, Prophetic, Parallel, and Institutional Voices Leader Resource 2, John Haynes Holmes and William Howard Taft, Photographs Optional: Computer and digital...

Activity time: 15 minutes Materials for Activity Handout 2, Pacifism Preparation for Activity Read Handout 2 and discuss with your co-facilitator any questions you might have about pacifism. Copy the handout for all participants. Optional: Prearrange for a volunteer to read the handout aloud.

Activity time: 15 minutes Materials for Activity Handout 1, Just War Theory Participant journals Pens, pencils, and extra paper Preparation for Activity Read Handout 1 and discuss with your co-facilitator any questions you have about just war theory. Copy the handout for participants. Optional:...

Holmes and Taft Find biographical information for John Haynes Holmes and William Howard Taft in the Unitarian Universalist Historical Society's online Dictionary of Unitarian and Universalist Biography. The "Third Way" Read more here: "Beyond Just War and Pacifism: Toward a Unitarian Universalist...

Take a few moments right after the workshop to ask each other: What went well? What did not? Why? What do you think was the best moment of the workshop? Why? Did anything surprise you? Review the next workshop. Are there any questions to research or logistics to arrange between workshops? Make a...

Activity time: 10 minutes Materials for Activity Worship or centering table and chalice Participant journals Writing materials, including paper, pens, pencils, color pencils, and markers Taking It Home handout Preparation for Activity Customize the Taking It Home section of this workshop and copy...

Materials for Activity Computer with Internet connection Leader Resource 1, Statement of Conscience - Creating Peace Preparation for Activity Online, access recent social justice statements and resolutions regarding wars, conflicts, and peacemaking passed by the General Assembly of the Unitarian...

Activity time: 5 minutes Materials for Activity Worship or centering table Chalice, candle, and lighter or LED battery-operated candle Timepiece (minutes) Chime or bell Copies of Singing the Living Tradition, the UUA hymnbook, for all participants Leader Resource 1, Statement of Conscience -...

Materials for Activity Sign-in sheet and pen or pencil Name tags for participants (durable or single-use), and bold markers Workshop 1, Handout 1, Schedule Optional: Refreshments Preparation for Activity Have copies of Workshop 1, Handout 1, Schedule on hand for those who need one. Using the...

Read Handout 1, Just War Theory; Handout 2, Pacifism; and Handout 3, Peacemaking. Consider these strategic and philosophical approaches to the issue of war. Do any resonate more strongly with you than the others? Why? What values do you think are behind each approach?...

Activity Minutes Welcoming and Entering 0 Opening 5 Activity 1: Defining Just War 15 Activity 2: Understanding Pacifism 15 Activity 3: The Taft-Holmes Debate 25 Activity 4: Peacemaking 20 Faith in Action: Acting on Justice Resolutions Closing 10 Alternate Activity 1: Role Playing the Taft-Holmes...

...the citizen, before fighting, is bound to inquire into the justice of the cause which he is called to maintain with blood, and bound to withhold his hand if his conscience condemn the cause. — William Ellery Channing This workshop explores a range of stances Unitarian Universalists have taken...

Frances Dana Barker Gage (1808-1884) There came a time when Universalists refused to go with me as an abolitionist, an advocate for the rights of women, for earnest temperance pleaders... Then it came to me that Christ's death as an atonement for sinners was not truth, but he had died for what he...

From the Library of Congress.

Excerpted from the article "Embattled Faith," by Neil Shister, which appeared in the July/August 2003 issue of UU World. Used with the author's permission....