Preachers Present Arms

Preachers Present Arms is the result of many years of research in libraries, religious periodicals (including many obscure ones), newspaper clippings, innumerable pamphlets, sermons, and addresses of the war periods. Pertinent books on the subject run into the hundreds of volumes. Many of the startling facts in Preachers Present Arms are the result of personal interviews and correspondence both at home and abroad. Over the span of nearly two thousand years, the institution of the Christian church has been eager to convert the whole world to its own interpretation of the will of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ. In so doing it has been confronted with one crisis after another. Most of the time, as the pages of history will testify, it has floundered in utmost confusion. From one point of view, its gravest and most tragic years have been those in which this church identified itself and participated gladly in some of the bloodiest wars of all times, all to carry out the will of the Almighty. The Crusades and Holy Wars of the past are stark reminders. Yet, even in our own time these holy wars continue. This book is the startling and terrifying story of the part played in this country by the churches and the clergy during the first World War-the consciences of ministers conscripted, innocent men railroaded to prison, churches turned into recruiting stations. In Preachers Present Arms a skilled analyst of social forces examines the merciless regimentation of ideas and conduct inherent in modern warfare. His sobering account of the surrender of the ministers to war hysteria in that dark period of the world's history-from 1914 to 1918-is in no sense an attack upon the clergy. Rather, in demonstrating how preachers were caught in the vortex of war madness, the book transcends the immediate field of its inquiry and demonstrates the influence of war psychology on the leaders and molders of public opinion. Included in this thought-provoking volume is a brief description of the churches and the clergy in World War II, and an analysis of the situation with respect to organized religion and our participation in the war in Vietnam.

Since World War II, Protestant sermons have been an influential tool for defining American citizenship in the wake of national crises. In the aftermath of national tragedies, Americans often turn to churches for solace. Because even secular citizens attend these services, they are also significant opportunities for the Protestant religious majority to define and redefine national identity and, in the process, to invest the nation-state with divinity. The sermons delivered in the wake of crises become integral to historical and communal memory—it matters greatly who is mourned and who is overlooked. Melissa M. Matthes conceives of these sermons as theo-political texts. In When Sorrow Comes, she explores the continuities and discontinuities they reveal in the balance of state power and divine authority following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the assassinations of JFK and MLK, the Rodney King verdict, the Oklahoma City bombing, the September 11 attacks, the Newtown shootings, and the Black Lives Matter movement. She argues that Protestant preachers use these moments to address questions about Christianity and citizenship and about the responsibilities of the Church and the State to respond to a national crisis. She also shows how post-crisis sermons have codified whiteness in ritual narratives of American history, excluding others from the collective account. These civic liturgies therefore illustrate the evolution of modern American politics and society. Despite perceptions of the decline of religious authority in the twentieth century, the pulpit retains power after national tragedies. Sermons preached in such intense times of mourning and reckoning serve as a form of civic education with consequences for how Americans understand who belongs to the nation and how to imagine its future.

The rise of Islamic radicalism has led to heated discussions about how best to address the threat of religious terror. Disputes covering the right and wrong of war with Iraq, and the even bigger war on terrorism, continue to rage across America. But this is not the first argument of this nature—America was faced with a similar moral dilemma on the eve of World War II. Fascism was conquering Europe, and religious leaders across the nation vehemently debated how to confront Nazi Germany. In The End of Illusions: Religious Leaders Confront Hitler's Gathering Storm, Joseph Loconte brings together pieces from the most significant religious thinkers of the pre-war period. In these essays, the writers eloquently and passionately present their arguments for going to war or maintaining the peace. In doing so, they explore issues vibrantly relevant today, including the Christian cause for war, the problem of evil, and America's role in the world. These urgently written pieces connect the past with the present and resonate with renewed clarity and poignancy.