2. (cont'd) remove the duty to take up arms and be prepared to engage in violence in order to defend the weak and vulnerable who require our assistance in time of danger. Yet prior to the succession of Constantine, in periods of persecution, there is no evidence that any Christians defended weaker ones by force of arms. Once Constantine legitimized Christianity and promoted Christian interests, of course, what is often thought to be the victory of the Church over the Empire was in fact quite the reverse; and the many centuries of "Christendom" that followed, even in a modified form to the present US, have always looked to true Christians such as Berrigan to be a moral failure and a betrayal of the gospel.

3. Death is always an evil, a natural one, i.e. a loss or woe befalling a living creature. Killing is always an evil, a natural one when what kills is not a moral agent; a moral one when the killer is. Some killing is justifiable or excusable, as in self-defense, but always woeful.