(written a few weeks before the US / Iraq war began)
I haven't thought much about it. And that makes me feel guilty. What do I believe about war? Is war ever justified? Can I as a Christian support a war, if the cause is a righteous cause? Is there such a thing as a righteous cause to go to war?
There are Christians and others who hold to a totally pacifistic view of war. I have not researched this position enough to represent it adequately.
It is a complex issue, and the development of the Just War Theory goes back as far as St Augustine, and probably as far back as the Greek philosophers.
The pre-war rhetoric that we are currently listening to stirs up such clouds of sentiment and other types of obscurants that it becomes exceedingly difficult to come down on any side of the issue. I often feel like I am the dummy, sitting between two experts on either side of me, who are debating the topic, and I alternately say to myself, "He has a good point. But then again, so does he!" When the experts disagree, how shall we find our way?
One interesting observation is this. The Lord Jesus while here on earth never condemned anyone for being a soldier. Some soldiers asked John the Baptist what they should do as an indication that their hearts were prepared for the Kingdom of heaven. He did not tell them to repent of their choice of career. He said to them, "Don't extort money and don't accuse people falsely- be content with your pay."
Therefore, I am not a pacifist. I cannot promise that I will not use reasonable violence while any of my loved ones are being attacked, even if it means that my own life is forfeited. Therefore, I must expect no less from our government or any nation. I can choose to let someone strike me on my cheek twice if need be, but I cannot make that choice for others such as my neighbours or my countryman.
The question of pacifism is not the main question, however. The question under consideration is: If there is such a thing as a just war, then what are the criteria for that war?
First of all, Paul refers to our governmental authorities as those who bear the sword for the purpose of keeping peace. That is an odd way of putting it. Mankind has always needed some kind of restraint to keep the full bloom of his sinfulness from erupting. The threat of punishment and retribution has kept many a rogue leader from doing all that his unfettered lust for power leads him to do. The idea that peace is brought about through the potential means of war is a very old tradition.
Obviously, whenever one country attacks another country and attempts to rob it of its peace and social order, the attacked country has the right and the obligation to defend itself. That's the first principle in the theory of a just war. One needs no justification if attacked.
For St. Augustine, war must be waged for the right reason, and under the right authority. Certainly suffering violent aggression against one's own country is a right reason. And the goal must be "to do that which is necessary to obtain peace."
Aquinas formulated the theory this way:
- the war must be prosecuted by a lawful authority with the power to wage war;
- the war must be undertaken with just cause;
- the war must be undertaken with the right intention, that is, "to achieve some good or to avoid some evil."
Another point that keeps showing up in Just War literature is the fact that the decision to go to war must not be motivated by a desire for vengeance or retribution, nor should it involve non-combatants. The war should be limited to reasonable and proportionate means to achieve the desired end.
Where it gets murky and where the rhetoric flies thick is when definitions become blurred. Is a terrorist attack truly an act of war or is it a criminal act that needs resolution in courts of law? Is an economic threat to one's own prosperity an act of war? Is precognition of an evil act on the part of a despot a just cause to strike first in the name of prevention?
Have other means been tried? What do our leaders know that we don't? Is there a smoking gun that they cannot tell us about? These are the questions that occupy my mind these days.
I am inclined to say that if the US were to declare war on Iraq in the next few weeks, if the facts do not change, it would be an unjust war, according to standards of just war theory that has developed through the ages from both religious and secular thinkers. The U.S. has not been attacked by Iraq, and currently, Iraq has not made a move on another nation. There have to be other means to bring Iraq to a place of peaceful coexistence with other nations.
When applying a biblical template to the matter, I cannot see that war is the answer. War will drive more Muslims into the waiting arms of Osama bin Laden. He is likely praying for this to happen.
I would be intrigued if political leaders took some of the principles taught in the Sermon on the Mount and applied them to their enemies! Imagine what a world that would be! Is it possible? You decide.