The most basic question raised by the war in Vietnam is not one of tactics but of war itself. Our problem is not whether to use gas, napalm, phosphorous or defoliants—nor even whether torture should be permitted: it is quite simply whether we should be resorting to arms at all.

I am well aware this question is not new, especially within the religious communities. With a few alterations here and there, the exchange in ancient Rome between Celsus and Origen (debating whether Cliristians should serve in the army) would be considered timely in any contemporary journal.