I am 58 years old.

I teach “Religion” at a Catholic high school and have done so for over 30 years.
From 1969 to 1973, it was only my deferment as a college student that kept me from the horrors of the war. It kept me, as well, from having to summon the courage to publicly declare myself as a Conscientious Objector. Perhaps it is too little too late, yet I rectify that today.

I am convinced that nonviolence is not a peripheral nor adjunct element of the Gospel; but, rather, it is an essential and constitutive element, defining the very nature of Christian love and discipleship. It is not “optional” nor only for the few.

I know the elements of the “Just War Theory,” and I believe it has been proven by modern events that the necessary conditions defined in this teaching can no longer be met in our modern times with our modern technology and weaponry [if, indeed, they ever could].

I believe the nonviolent Gospel calls us to an unconditional respect for life; and so it weaves a “seamless garment” that enfolds opposition to all behaviors and conditions that threaten that respect, including abortion, the death penalty, euthanasia, all forms of torture, and poverty.

I understand that nonviolence is not “passivism,” but an active stance that confronts evil with the Truth and a willingness to suffer that is rooted in Love. It realizes that all well-being is mutual.

When all is said an done, it is not a complicated teaching or doctrine that guides us. It is simple, profoundly simple. For a disciple, it all boils down to one single question: “Whom would Jesus kill?” In all my reflection I have never found a person or situation for which the answer would be, “This one. Jesus would kill this one.” Rather, all I find is that Jesus would lay down His life for “this one.” Indeed, He already did.

As a disciple, so must I. “I have given you an example. As I have done, so must you do.”

In the name of the God of Life, of Love, and of Truth, I commit myself to imitate the Master and live this Gospel to the best of my ability.

David J. Wayton
Rossford, Ohio
June 6, 2009