Between the Bible and the Holocaust: Three Sources for Jewish Perspectives on Mass Destruction

Christian Commitments to Political Nonviolence

“…This provides grounds for Jewish ethicists who evaluate the potential use of such weapons as too grave a risk to ever see war as justified to adopt a view similar to practical pacifism. Joseph E. David, for example, presents weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons, as transcending conventional warfare and its restrictions because of their consequences (2004, 385). He stops short of adopting a view along the lines of practical pacifism, but acknowledges the difficulties associated with contemplating the use of such weapons concluding, “the responsibility to ensure the preservation of human life, once considered God’s prerogative, is now truly our own” (David 2004, 396).…”