Japan’s economic, political and societal recovery after World War II is arguably one of the most impressive recoveries of any nation after a war. This thesis refers to the works of scholars on Japanese constitutional studies, Japanese security studies, Japanese politics and Japanese education to identify the forces that helped generate the rise of Japan’s post war recovery national narrative. After Identifying the forces that gave rise to the anti-war Pacifist national narrative of Japan’s postwar recovery, this thesis highlights the role of Japan’s peace museums and memorials in helping to maintain and effectively communicate the nation’s postwar values of democracy and pacifism to future generations. This thesis will then discuss the challenge for Japan’s Peace memorials and museums in an era where anti-war Pacifism is less relevant and may eventually cease to exist. The Japanese people and their Prime Ministers are still divided in embracing national memorials and museums of war to represent their nation. This makes it difficult for peace and war memorials and museums to play a much more significant role in the future of Japan’s national narrative.

Thesis (Ph. D..)--Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 363-376).

Thesis (M.R.E.)--Biblical Seminary in New York, 1950. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 61-63).

Thesis (Ph. D..)--Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 363-376).

Thesis (M.A.)--Abilene Christian University, 2000. / Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 129-138).

Thesis (M.A.)--Baylor University, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 152-164).

Just-Warists and War-Pacifists disagree on whether soldiers are morally justified in killing each other in wartime combat. Many of their respective arguments, and their contradictory conclusions, are based upon principles of self-defense. In this thesis, I examine the role that principles of self-defense play in the arguments surrounding the moral justification of killing in combat. I do so by critiquing both a Just-Warist argument that relies on self-defense (constructed from the works of Michael Walzer and Judith Jarvis Thomson) and a War-Pacifist argument (developed by Richard Norman) that condemns killing in combat based on the moral requirements of self-defense. I demonstrate that both arguments fail due to their mistaken assumptions that soldiers are not morally responsible for their actions. I conclude by arguing that--once soldiers are recognized as morally responsible agents--killing in combat can be morally justified by principles of self-defense. / Master of Arts

Comparative study on constitutional bans on war in Japan, Italy and Germany

Pentecostals were the largest religious group among conscientious objectors in Sweden between 1967 and 1971, a time characterized by passionate debates on the ethics of war in the shadows of Vietnam and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This thesis aims to review and analyze how the Pentecostal periodicals Evangelii Härold and Dagen described and ethically motivated military violence and pacifism in different contexts during this period. The purpose is to identify potential motivations for pacifism and/or military support during a time when a large number of Pentecostals refused to bear arms, with particular interest in how these motivations related to ethical evaluation on contemporary wars.  Pacifism and conscientious objection were regularly promoted and seldom criticized, while most contemporary military violence was condemned with one glaring exception: Israeli warfare. Unlike the American war effort in Vietnam, Israel’s wars were commonly viewed as eschatologically significant and biblically predicted holy wars, with several writers suggesting that God himself has waged and will wage war on Israel’s behalf. Pacifism was primarily motivated by obedience to the Bible rather than empathy, fitting with Lisa Cahill’s theory of obediential pacifism being distinct from empathic pacifism in the Christian tradition. Support for Israeli warfare was also derived from biblical interpretation, primarily based on Old Testament texts. It was further motivated by ideas of Jewish suffering and death being part of God’s plan, with several Pentecostal writers speculating that an apocalyptic genocide greater than the Holocaust would precede the second coming of Christ. Many Pentecostals did not see this as standing in conflict with personal pacifism and conscientious objection, as both views were perceived as biblical. Future research could further explore the relationship between Pentecostal eschatology and empathy, along with how mid-century Pentecostal Zionism might have been influenced by antisemitic ideas from the 1930’s. / Pingstvänner utgjorde den största religiösa gruppen bland vapenvägrare i Sverige mellan 1967 och 1971, en tidsperiod som karaktäriserades av passionerade debatter om krigsetik i skuggan av Vietnamkriget och Israel-Palestinakonflikten. Denna uppsats ämnar presentera och analysera hur de pentekostala tidskrifterna Evangelii Härold och Dagen beskrev och etiskt motiverade militärt våld och pacifism i olika kontexter under denna period. Syftet är att identifiera möjliga motiveringar för pacifism och/eller stöd för militärt våld i en tid då många pingstvänner vägrade bära vapen, med ett särskilt intresse för hur dessa motiveringar relaterade till etisk reflektion kring samtida krig. Pacifism och vapenvägran förespråkades regelbundet och kritiserades sällan, medan majoriteten av det samtida militära våldet kritiserades med ett uppenbart undantag: israelisk krigföring. Till skillnad från den amerikanska krigsinsatsen i Vietnam ansågs Israel bedriva eskatologiskt signifikanta och bibliskt förutsedda heliga krig. Flera skribenter menade att Gud själv har stridit och kommer att strida å Israels vägnar.  Pacifism motiverades framför allt utifrån lydnad till Bibeln snarare än utifrån empati, vilket stämmer väl med Lisa Cahills teori om att lydnadsbaserad pacifism är distinkt från empatibaserad pacifism i kristen tradition. Stödet för israelisk krigföring motiverade också med bibeltolkning, främst utifrån gammaltestamentliga texter. Därtill motiverades det med idéer om att judiskt lidande och död är en del av Guds plan. Flera skribenter spekulerade i att ett apokalyptiskt folkmord större än förintelsen kommer föregå Jesu återkomst. Få pingstvänner uttryckte att dessa idéer stod i konflikt med personlig pacifism och vapenvägran, då allt ansågs vara bibliskt.  Vidare forskning skulle vidare kunna utforska förhållandet mellan pentekostal eskatologi och empati, samt hur pentekostal sionism i mitten av 1900-talet kan ha influerats av antisemitiska idéer.

Though Article 9 has not been revised since it was implemented in 1947, the past two decades have seen an increase in Japanese military capability due to the government’s loose interpretation of Article 9 and its limitations to allow for Japanese involvement in collective security operations internationally. As a result, a number of Japanese political scholars and newspapers have projected the possibility of not only Japanese constitutional revision but also the re-militarization of Japan as well. Interested in finding out whether or not this projection has any likelihood of success in the future, I have posed the following question: Why has the constitution and the pacifism that it enshrines been so resistant to change despite a changing political context, and does the increase of Japanese public support for constitutional revision necessarily mean re-militarization for Japan? Taking a constructivist approach, I will argue that although pro-constitutional revision forces in Japan have tried to use fear politics and the revival of a Japanese “national spirit” to promote constitutional revision and ultimately re-militarization, the Japanese public has been relatively unreceptive to their ploy due to the integration of pacifism into the Japanese collective identity.