Two new stories on our website, and our ongoing series of daily Lenten reflections.
 
In "Just-War Illusions," Ronald E. Osborn writes that standard just-war language is not "the only language left to the church in the face of violence." Rather, there is also “just-war pacifism.”

Just-war pacifists may or may not be “absolute pacifists”; their position does not require that they deny the legitimacy of force in extreme scenarios. Nor do they hold any great optimism regarding our ability to end all wars or sway political outcomes through marches and petitions. Rather, the just-war pacifist begins with a thoroughly realist assumption—that foreign policy is seldom if ever guided by rigorous just-war precepts. 

Read it all here.
 
Also, in "Near Occasion," Dominic Preziosi writes about the resonance of religious language: 

Who knows why we like the words and phrases we do? My fifth-grade daughter recently copped to a special fondness for “adhesive,” while my high school–age son has been spitting out “debacle” with contemptuous abandon. For a very long time I’ve been drawn to the compound “near occasion.” Maybe a linguist or brain specialist could offer a scientific explanation for the general phenomenon, but in my specific case I trace it to a youthful encounter in face-to-face confession.

Read it all here.
 
And as we enter the first weekend of Lent, make sure to keep up with Joseph A. Komonchak's daily Lenten reflections; a new one is posted every morning through Easter at our dedicated Lenten Reflections 2014 page, which you can find right here. Bookmark it for easy viewing, or just look for the link in the Trending Topics list in the blue bar at the top of every page on our site.