Art Laffin

The Gospel of Peace is the culmination of John Dear's lifework, born from decades of prayer, Eucharist, study of Scripture, Jesus, Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., Gospel-based action, and writing about Gospel nonviolence.

Twenty years after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the Doomsday Clock stands at 90 seconds before midnight, the closest to global catastrophe it has ever been. Nonviolence is the only solution.

Commentary: This Advent — as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus, who commands us to put away the sword and love one another — Congress recently passed a bill that prepares the way for more suffering, death and destruction.

What if the bishops called for the conversion of arms industries to nonmilitary production, while advocating for full and just protection of workers' rights during the transition process? What if leadership in all Christian denominations called on believers in the nuclear chain of command to refuse orders to use nuclear weapons, and for all Christians to publicly support those who do so?

Commentary: The U.S. and the world's eight other nuclear-armed countries boycotted the treaty negotiations and have shown no inclination to accept it. Living as we are in a nation that legally sanctions nuclear weapons, what would Jesus have us do?

Commentary: The anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of two Japanese cities is a time of remembering the horror, repenting the sin and reclaiming a future without nuclear weapons.

Commentary: If we are to take seriously the magnitude of the nuclear threat and the admonition of Pope Francis, we must risk taking action commensurate with the colossal threat.