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CIUT 89.5 FM out of the University of Toronto interviewed Andy Alexis-Baker for their radio program “Animal Voices.” The program aired at 11am Tuesday, February 26. You can listen to the recorded podcast online, however at http://animalvoices.ca/2013/02/26/so-was-jesus-a-vegetarian-a-faith-embracing-all-creatures-addresses-christian-vegans-most-frequently-asked-questions/

Animal Voices also has a Facebook page. See https://www.facebook.com/animalvoicesradio

1. Byron Borger of the Humane Society USA wrote a review for the Humane Society website. He says, “Many of these essays are creative and fresh. Some are quite passionate – insisting that it is immoral to cooperate with industrial farming practices that produce ‘cruelty meat.’ They may not be presenting the final word, but, it is the best book of its kind.”
2. Katherine Annemarie reviewed the book at Jesus Radicals, saying, “This book is an excellent, comprehensive theological examination of the place of nonhuman animals within creation, and the extension of Christian nonviolence to all of creation.”
3. Stephen R. Kaufman, M.D. of the Christian Vegetarian Association says, “I strongly recommend this book for those who seek greater insight and wisdom when it comes to Christianity and animal issues.”
4. Meghan Pauline Florian reviewed the book for Englewood Review of Books, stating that “the collection provides a valuable resource to any teacher or person in general seeking to educate others about Christian perspectives on animal care.”
5. Nathan Colquhoun reviewed the book on his blog.

Volume II (A Faith Embracing All Creatures) of The Peaceable Kingdom Series is now available.

If you order it now, it’s 40% off. Simply visit the publisher’s website, type in this code, CREATURES, and viola! A great book at almost half the price!

As the point of the series is to think about what it means to embody God’s peaceable kingdom, each volume attempts to examine what this means for ALL of creation. Volume I discusses nonviolence toward enemies, Volume II discusses nonviolence in relation to other-than-human animals, and Volume III opens it up in order to have a larger discussion about environmental issues (which includes us, other creatures, and the earth).

One of our authors, Pelle Strindlund, recently posted a video on Youtube in which he talks about A Faith Embracing All Creatures. Check it out.

1. Myles Werntz has posted a review at Englewood Review of Books, stating that the book makes a good resource for undergraduate courses and congregational book study.
2. Andy Goodliff has posted his review saying it is “a good book, an important book.”
3. Caleb Coy is doing a chapter-by-chapter review!
4. Fr. John Dear, one of the book’s authors, gives his opinion about why the book is so helpful to readers.
5. David Hershey explains why the book makes him repect and come closer to pacifism, even though he he still not convinced that Christian discipleship requires it.
6. James McCarty has a good review, and suggests that readers not read the book in the order the chapters are listed.
7. Chris Grataski writes in his review at Jesus Radicals that the authors “offer refreshingly mature explorations of the diverse possible responses to questions like these.” His review engages with a few of the chapters while offering helpful interpretations, and offers an over all hermeneutic for the book that does not seek “answers” but “responses.” It is a review well worth reading in its own right.
8. Another nonpacifist reads the book, giving it high marks!
9. David Swanson writes in his review that “This book deserves a wide audience and I’m grateful to the editors and contributors for it.  I’ll come back to these essays again as I grapple with the violence in our nation, our city and within my own heart.”
10. Ted Grimsrud, who wrote a blurb for the back of the book writes that “I am not aware of any other single, relatively short, volume that tries to address as many challenges to pacifism. Several of the essays make particularly excellent contributions to the task of defending pacifism, and all the essays are well worth reading.” He goes on to offer brief thoughts on the structure and promises engagement with several specific essays in further posts.
11. Kurt Willems writes a kind review and recommendation at The Pangea Blog.  He writes “There is no other book that I would put into the hands of someone wrestling with nonviolence than [A Faith Not Worth Fighting For]. The reason is that I’m convinced that this book contains thorough-yet-concise reflections on the questions all of us ask in a format that is academic-yet-accessible. Each chapter is rich with kingdom insights that will pay higher dividends than if you had invested the cost of the book into stocks or bonds.”
12. How am I not in this book?, asks Jonathan Fitzgerald in his review at Patrol Magazine. Fitzgerald writes, “The sum of the parts of A Faith Not Worth Fighting For aims to convince readers that Jesus’ teachings indeed call us to a life of nonviolence, and maybe it will. It’s hard for me to say because as I read through I nodded my head in agreement and uttered the occasional ‘Amen.’”
13. Zack Hunt, writing at his blog the American Jesus, says of the book that “there is no hyperbole intended when I say A Faith Not Worth Fighting For edited by Tripp York and Justin Bronson Barringer is one of the most personally challenging books I have ever read.” He goes on to say that the questions of whether we should take Jesus seriously and whether we believe in the resurrection “seriously challenged me to reexamine my long held just war position.”
14. Mennonite Weekly Review had Tom Airey write a short review. He writes, “Overall, the book is a highly inclusive work with a Christological account of nonviolent resistance. Both men and women write essays, and a variety of denominations are represented. “
15. JR Forasteros writes at his blog, “A clear, humble and grace-filled resource. Because it’s so deeply personal and theological, A Faith Not Worth Fighting For is a treasure.”
16. Craig Watts posted a review at the Disciples Peace Fellowship site, writing, “This fine collection deserves to find a wide readership. The authors take seriously the questions asked by the critics of Christian pacifism. I hope that those same critics will give an honest hearing to these thoughtful responses.”
17. Being TC offers a review of Greg Boyd’s chapter “Does God Expect Nations to Turn the Other Cheek?”

If there has been one consistent question or critique about A Faith Not Worth Fighting For, it is that the title seems to devalue Christian faith. Stanley Hauerwas even addressed this in his foreword, writing, “I confess I do not like the title, because I think that there is a way to fight nonviolently.”

We also acknowledged this in our the book’s introduction. “It was suggested that A Faith Not Worth Fighting For conjures negative and polemical images that may be antithetical to our project. This is certainly a valid concern. Such a title can be off-putting and runs the risk of alienating a potentially larger audience. At the same time, we think the title is worth the risk. First of all, it is a negative title. It is negative in the sense that we wish to avoid doing something in particular: violence (though we also have no desire to be defined by what we are against). Second, it is polemical inasmuch as it purposely strives to attract critical readers with the hope that we can offer an explanation as to what we mean when claim that Christianity is not a faith worth fighting for.”

But, why would we say that Christian faith is not worth fighting for, instead of saying that it is worth not fighting for?

While we were still putting the book together we decided to do some crowd-sourcing to see if we could find an interesting title. Justin’s friend Jeremy Spainhour, jokingly I think, suggested A Faith Not Worth Fighting For. We discussed using this title and switching the places of ‘not’ and ‘worth’ then finally decided on the current title. But why?

The simple answer is that Tripp wanted to finish the book with a chapter called A Faith Worth Dying For, and that we thought the title as it is was more provocative.

The more helpful answer is two-fold.

1. Any faith that does not take the Lordship of Jesus serious enough to at least be the starting place for Christian ethics is a faith that is not worth fighting for (in any sense) because it is an impotent faith. (Not implying that my Just War friends don’t take the Lordship of Jesus seriously).

2. Christian faith is not worth fighting for (in a violent sense) in that employing violence undermines the faith itself. In other words, it is not worth doing something that undermines the telos one has. The means and ends must be tied together. Often in Christian history, and contemporary Christian culture, it has been argued, both implicitly and explicitly, that Christian faith is so valuable that it is ‘worth’ contradicting the life and teachings of the very One who the faith is founded upon. In order to protect our faith we wage holy wars and culture wars, but somehow this looks nothing like the life and teachings of the GodMan who went silently to his death, rather than calling ten thousand angels to defend him.

As we wrote in the intro, “We do not think it is worth fighting for if fighting suggests that we can maintain the radical path of Jesus while simultaneously employing violence as a means of dealing with our enemies.”

Simply put our faith is not worth fighting for, because our Lord does not want us to fight. Faith itself means nothing apart from Jesus, it is literally worthless.

We know this won’t be a satisfactory response for some of you. So, you wanna fight about it?

What would you do if I slapped you? David Dorn at the Pursuit Blog poses a humorous question to Justin in attempt to deal with some of the difficulties of being a pacifist, like self-defense.

In this interview at the Pursuit Blog with David Dorn, Justin attempts to answer a question about the “God of Violence” in the Old Testament being different than the “God of Peace” in the New Testament.

David Dorn, from The Pursuit Blog, interviews editor Justin Bronson Barringer. This is the first of a short series about issues related to Christian pacifism. Justin briefly and winsomely responds to question “Is Jesus a Pacifist?”

Rachel Held Evans interviews editor Tripp York on pacifism for her “Ask a…” blog series. In his typically witty fashion, Tripp answers questions ranging from, “How do you feel about physically defending others?” to “What is the biggest challenge of being a pacifist in your daily life?” Check it out: http://rachelheldevans.com/ask-a-pacifist-response