God. Real. Right.

In the Fall 2008 CTR, Stanley Hauerwas defends his pacifism. The following is simply a section-by-section and sometimes paragraph-by-paragraph response as I read the work. His sections are on the idealism of realism, the nation (or war) as church, and pacifism as realism.

“The Idealism of Realism”
Paragraph 1: Hauerwas claims that critics of pacifism rely on realism to make their claim. But actually, what’s wrong with pacifism is not that it is not realistic, even though I agree that it is not. The fact that something doesn’t work means only that it doesn’t work, not that it is wrong. What’s wrong with Pacifism is (more…)

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To win is a great reason to play a game. Competitiveness makes perfect sense. But there is an even better reason to play any game, a reason which motivates the best play possible even when winning is not realistic. That reason is virtue, and it affects a lot more than playing games.
It is not uncommon for coaches to have a hard time connecting with their players because of the difference in ultimate this-game values. That is, the player wants to win, while the coach intends to teach how to be a better player. So in volleyball, a player goes over the net with the first hit. The coach says to pass the ball to the setter next time. In rebuttal, the player points out that the return was successful, resulting in a side-out. The exasperated coach often (more…)

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