The Just War

Justice and Peace Kiss


Twenty-three of us gathered in Elizabethton tonight for the peace vigil. Pictures will be on the church website soon. On the eve of the fourth anniversary of the illegal, immoral, and unjust invasion of Iraq by the United States, people around the country and around the world are increasing their efforts to end this war. Congress can do it. But they need to know that we want it ended.

Christianity in the United States largely serves as the civil religion for the American Empire. As such it gives the current administration religious legitimacy to its foreign entanglements. But there are dissenters. Christianity also has a prophetic stream.

At the Christian Peace Witness for Iraq worship service, Jim Wallis of Sojourners gave the Call to Action. He said,

For all of us here tonight, the war in Iraq has become a matter of faith.

By our deepest convictions about Christian standards and teaching, the war in Iraq was not just a well-intended mistake or only mismanaged. THIS WAR, FROM A CHRISTIAN POINT OF VIEW, IS MORALLY WRONG - AND WAS FROM THE VERY START. It cannot be justified with either the teachings of Jesus Christ OR the criteria of St. Augustine’s just war. It simply doesn’t pass either test and did not from its beginning. This war is not just an offense against the young Americans who have made the ultimate sacrifice or to the Iraqis who have paid such a horrible price. This war is not only an offense to the poor at home and around the world who have paid the price of misdirected resources and priorities. This war is also an offense against God.

Since Rev. Wallis alluded to Augustine and the Just War Criteria. I thought it would be helpful to provide a list of these criteria so that those who identify as Christian can see if the war in Iraq measured up. Theories and debates, papers and books have been written about this since Augustine, and before him. However, we can identify six basic principles. I took these from Wikipedia:

• Comparative justice: While there may be rights and wrongs on all sides of a conflict, to override the presumption against the use of force, the injustice suffered by one party must significantly outweigh that suffered by the other;

• Legitimate authority: Only duly constituted public authorities may use deadly force or wage war;

• Right intention: Force may be used only in a truly just cause and solely for that purpose—correcting a suffered wrong is considered a right intention, while material gain or maintaining economies is not.

• Probability of success: Arms may not be used in a futile cause or in a case where disproportionate measures are required to achieve success;

• Proportionality: The overall destruction expected from the use of force must be outweighed by the good to be achieved.

• Last resort: Force may be used only after all peaceful and viable alternatives have been seriously tried and exhausted.

All six criteria should be met before one nation attacks another. When Bush attacked Iraq four years ago, none of these six, in my view had been met.

1) The United States did not suffer from anything Iraq had done. There was no threat to the United States by Iraq. The terrorist attacks of September 2001 had nothing to do with Iraq. The "weapons of mass destruction" were fantasies.

2) The United States was not a legitmate authority in this instance. If Iraq was a threat, it was a threat to the world not just the United States. The United Nations was the legitimate authority. The United States did not attack under the auspices of the United Nations.

3) The administration deceived the American people regarding its intentions and it still does. Oil, anyone?

4) Bush Sr. stated very clearly why he didn't go after Saddam in the first Gulf War--as it would result predictably in a disaster.

5) Is the world better off than before? You decide.

6) There were numerous options available for containing Saddam Hussein including working with the United Nations. Bush rushed the U.S. into this war. It was not a last resort.

The United States does not operate under the non-violence of Jesus (by any means) nor the Just War theory. It operates under the Bush Doctrine. He uses Christianity to legitimize this doctrine. I think it is important for churches, its laity, and its clergy to address this war for what it is--immoral, illegal, and unjust. The United States committed a crime against humanity and against God. The only way to rectify this situation is to admit it and to apologize to the world. Then we can work with other nations through diplomatic means under the leadership of the United Nations to work for justice and peace in the Middle East.

For more information on the Just War Theory you can go to, Atheism.about.com , The National Catholic Reporter, and to Vincent Ferraro of Mount Holyoke College.