education

Just War/Just Peace

Just War or Just Peace? No matter how you read it, we live in a world that is torn between the two. We all say we want peace, but we can’t seem to agree on how to achieve it. We’ve heard that “war is hell,” but we keep waging it. Religious faiths add another dimension to the dilemma. They preach peace, but often condone violence, even going so far as to provide a “Just War Theory.” How are young people to make any sense of the contradictions?

Just War/Just Peace is an eight-lesson program for high school students that provides numerous opportunities for young people to explore relevant issues and critically analyze them. It is rooted in the teachings on peace and war found in many religious faiths. It uses diverse instructional strategies, including internet research, reading, discussion, moral dilemmas, simulations, and creative expression. It does not take a stand, but encourages students to come to their own informed positions on such topics as patriotism and responsible citizenship, faith and service. Its most basic and important goals are the cultivation of critical thinking and the deepening of faith to guide decision making and moral development in a world of difficult choices and endless contradictions.

The Just War/Just Peace manual is available for $20 plus $3 shipping and handling. If you would like a copy, please contact the PCMNY office.

FIRST STEPS: A Christian Conflict Resolution Program
Rooted in Scripture and designed primarily to help participants develop skills to resolve peacefully conflicts at home, with friends, at work, and in the larger community, First Steps participants are invited to view conflict and an opportunity for growth. Read More

FROM CONFLICT TO COMMON GROUND: A Christian Conflict Resolution Process for High School Students

Pax Christi Metro New York has developed From Conflict to Common Ground, a fifteen-session program designed to teach young people positive, creative approaches to the conflicts they face daily. The program is unique because it instructs students in the methodology of peacemaking and places conflict resolution in a Christian context.
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special programs

Seventy Times Seven

Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven." Matthew 18:21

Seventy Times Seven is a workshop based on the book, Seventy Times Seven: Forgiveness and Peacemaking by Doris Donnelly. It incorporates prayer and various exercises to help participants develop understanding and skill. Topics include Defining Forgiveness, Misconceptions, Personal Experiences, Steps to Forgiveness, Obstacles and Ways to Overcome Them.
Workshopss average two hours. The suggested donation is $150 for a group or $15 per person. They can be arranged by contacting Pax Christi Metro New York at 212-420-0250 or nypaxchristi@igc.org

Useful external links

Fellowship of Reconciliation: An interfaith organization devoted to transforming all forms of social, environmental, and economic injustice through active and radical nonviolence.
The War Resisters League: A venerable organization that has, for 75 years, condemned all war as a crime against humanity. Site includes WRL info, statements, and information on the upcoming Day Without the Pentagon.
Abolition 2000: A coalition of over 150 disarmament and peace groups including NGO's worldwide working for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom: Founded in 1915 during World War I, with Jane Addams as its first president, WILPF works to achieve through peaceful means world disarmament, full rights for women, racial and economic justice, an end to all forms of violence.
The Nonviolence Web: A nonviolence mega-site that hosts a number of peace groups' web pages, including those of Pax Christi USA, the Jewish Peace Fellowship, the Muslim Peace Fellowship, Veterans for Peace, and the A.J. Muste Memorial Institute.

NETWORK: A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby, educates, lobbies and organizes to influence the formation of federal legislation to promote economic and social justice.

Metro New York Religious Campaign Against Torture: An interfaith coalition dedicated to ending torture worldwide.
Catholic Charities: The social service arm of the Catholic Church that helps protect and nurture children and youth, feed the hungry and shelter the homeless, strengthen families in crisis, support the physically and emotionally challenged, and welcome and integrate immigrants and refugees.
Social Justice Resources: The site provides numerous links to information on the basis of social justice theory, historical and current social justice issues, and information regarding the views on social justice by major religious groups and political parties.
Witness against Torture: A campaign to close Guantanamo prison and end torture.