Wars and rumors of wars abound. "It dawns slowly on the friends of Africa that huge tracts of the continent are being overtaken by the scourges of war," The Washington Post said editorially in mid-October. At the same time debate swirled around a possible NATO bombing campaign, a problematic attempt to address the sufferings of Kosovo. Another bombing claimed more than 100 lives in the 15-year-old civil war in Sri Lanka. Iran and Afghanistan moved threateningly toward each other. The end of the Cold War may have lowered our anxieties about nuclear oblivion, perhaps too much, but it did not end conflict around the globe.
The core question is what people of faith can do in response to a world rent with violence. Just Peacemaking, edited by Glen Stassen, a professor of Christian ethics at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, is a straightforward book of less than 200 pages that makes some important suggestions. It is uneven, as would be any document with 10 essays written by 16 people. But the writers present themes, touch on debates, and tell stories that will have wide appeal.
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