Thanks for reading my story and taking the time to respond to it.

I always remind people that if you follow Catholic teaching to the letter you will have lived to the letter the minimum standard of…

Thanks for reading my story and taking the time to respond to it.

I always remind people that if you follow Catholic teaching to the letter you will have lived to the letter the minimum standard of Catholic teaching.

Christian anarchism as practiced by people like Peter Maurin and Dorothy Day and others takes the gospel more literally than the Church requires. So, in answer to your question: we Catholics do believe in the just war doctrine. One may go to war as a last resort to fight against an evil that it is believed cannot be stopped in any other way. However, that does not mean that one HAS to go to war or respond only that way. There may be pacifist or non-violent responses that will be effective even as a witness.

In fact, one the most successful campaigns against the Germans in World War II was a ruse. Not a shot was fired neither could there be one because the weapons were inflatable. It worked and fooled the Germans making them weak in an area that allowed for their defeat in a separate battle.

In another example, one of the reasons for the success of the Solidarity Movement was because it was a peaceful movement. I used to produce the local (Boston) broadcast of Vatican Radio. One program discussed the Solidarity Movement and the guest (all this was recorded in Rome, I just reaired the programs) explained that the Soviets were well schooled in how to fight a violent uprising, but they had no idea how to deal with the non-violence of Solidarity. He said if the Polish fired a shot they would be done, but because it was peaceful the Soviets were totally confused on how to respond.

Nothing says that you cannot choose to live at a higher standard. So you do have the right to self-defense, but you are not necessarily required to use self-defense if you feel you want to live closer to the literal standards Jesus stated.

Here in the United States we have the Second Amendment which gives all Americans the right to bear arms. I am a veteran and so I am trained in the use of firearms. I have the right to own firearms, however, despite being a veteran I personally choose not to own a weapon. I think for a priest to carry a gun and I have heard rumors of a few who do, I think is a bad witness. So I have the right to own firearms, but I choose to live in a way that I do not pursue that right.

So, yes the Church does not hold people to that standard, but people may choose to live that higher standard in any form they may wish but they just may not force other Catholics to live to that higher standard that they may choose.

Dorothy Day herself said that her form of living out her Catholicism, which was the epitome of the Catholic Worker movement, was a vocation and required the grace of that calling. But she also pointed out the powerful words in Catholic social teaching that called people to a higher standard if they so choose.

If hope this answers your question.