BYM Quaker speaks about pacifism on BBC radio
Oliver Robertson was asked: ‘Are there any circumstances in which a war can be justified?’
Quakers were invited to speak about pacifism this month on BBC Radio 4.
Oliver Robertson, head of Witness and Worship for Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM), took part in the programme Moral Maze on 15 March, which posed the question: ‘Is pacifism admirable, immoral or just impractical?’
Answering some questions to a panel and presenter William Crawley, Oliver Robertson was asked: ‘Are there any circumstances in which a war can be justified?’
As part of his response, he said: ‘I’m not sure there can be… there are circumstances where war can be made less terrible. We need to remember that the killing of people is a terrible thing and no one should ever be forced to do that.’ He also quoted the Quaker phrase: ‘Good ends do not justify evil means’ and ‘nor should we do evil so good may come of it’.
The panellists included Melanie Phillips, columnist from The Times; Giles Fraser, priest and author; Tim Stanley, historian; and Mona Siddiqui, academic and broadcaster.
Joining Oliver Robertson as ‘witnesses’ were Emily Apple, media coordinator for the Campaign Against Arms Trade; Aliona Hlivco, a former Ukrainian politician; and Charlie Mackintosh, an undergraduate at New College, Oxford and an army officer scholar.
The programme is available to hear on BBC Sounds (see the article for Oliver’s reflections and a link).
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