Grace Over Guns: Pursuing Peace in a Militarized World

We need to talk about the reality of war

War remains a clear and present evil, yet North American Christians often don't feel equipped to talk about it. When a US Air Force drone drops a bomb on a wedding party in Yemen, for example, few of us have the language to talk about that violence. When our military invades a territory or when we fight proxy wars through other countries, our response to military violence tends to follow our political beliefs rather than our religious convictions.

Our allegiance to military might goes beyond ongoing global conflicts. The United States boasts a bloated military budget, which includes displays of patriotism at sporting events and military recruitment directed at children in public schools. As nationalism and warfare trend around the globe, people seeking peace are compelled to question the mania for militarism and violence.

Grace over Guns challenges readers to think through common justifications for military violence and to consider how those justifications might not measure up to the teachings of Jesus. Drawing on story and Scripture, pastor Ben Daniel offers a prophetic call to reject the sin of military violence and embrace the grace of Christian pacifism.

Ben Daniel is a Presbyterian minister, peace activist, and award-winning author living in Oakland, California. His left-leaning, faith-based social and political commentary has appeared in a wide variety of local, regional, national and international publications and broadcasts.

Daniel's first book, Neighbor: Christian Encounters with "Illegal" Immigration, was named 2010 Religion Book of the Year by Foreword Reviews and helped shape the response of at least three mainline Protestant denominations to immigration in the United States. The Search for Truth about Islam: A Christian Pastor Separates Fact from Fiction was shortlisted for the Foreword Indies awards and recommended for the Islam collections of American libraries by the American Library Association. Daniel's book Thoughtful Christianity: Faith and Action in the Way of Jesus explores how Christians can practice a faith more informed by the life of the mind.

Daniel's work has appeared in local, national, and international print, broadcast, video, and online media including The Scotsman of Edinburgh, The San Jose Mercury News, Beliefnet, The Revealer, NPR - KQED, and Living the Questions. His writings and sermons on peacemaking appear regularly on the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship website and have been published by Sojourners and Presbyterian Outlook.