Friday, August 25, 2006
The Just War Theory: A traditional Catholic moral view
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By Rev. Richard Benson, C.M.
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For many Catholics the "Just War Theory" was at best something that they may have met in some religion class along the way, if they were lucky.
Most of us have heard the term and may know that it can be traced through a 1,600-year history in Church teaching. We may even know that it is based on a legitimate understanding of a moral right to self-defense, which itself is based on an understanding that we were created by God with a natural inclination to self-preservation. It is unlikely that it was presented in much depth in most religion curricula, if it was there at all.
However, in the last 15 years, dating from the time of the first "Gulf War," the theological notion of the "Just War Theory" has been brought to the front page of the secular press, primarily by politicians attempting to use it as a justification for some particular armed conflict on one hand and, on the other, Christian Church leaders including Catholic bishops and theologians using it to condemn some of those same conflicts.
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The Just War Theory cannot legitimately be allowed to be abused as a strategy by politicians. It is a tool for every Christian for moral analysis, a tool that ultimately seeks peace for both the aggressor and the victim.
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Perhaps it would be to our advantage to briefly review this theory through a Catholic lens, so that as members of the Church we can be more effective in our personal moral analysis of wars and armed conflicts that our politicians undertake in our name. Let me raise three specific points that may be helpful.
Point 1: Perhaps the most importantly, the Just War Theory is neither a political nor an ethical theory, it is a moral theory. Its foundation for Catholics, as articulated first by St. Augustine and later reiterated by St. Thomas, is a theological one, for indeed all Christian morality is grounded in our relationship with Jesus Christ. While ethical theories are founded in "reason" and political theories depend primarily upon concepts of "justice" and the "common good," Catholic morality is impossible unless it is grounded in a relationship with our Trinitarian God.
Why? Because at its heart Catholic moral theology and the Catholic moral life is nothing less than our attempts to say "yes" to God's greatest commandment, "to love our God and our neighbor." Mary, the mother of God, is the first disciple, precisely because she models perfectly the daily "yes" to love, essential to the moral life. A political and ethical point of view may be possible without a relationship with God, but for Catholics there is no morality, in its truest sense, without a spiritual relationship with God.
This means that when we look at the Just War Theory we have to use it, as a part of Catholic theology. Catholic theology, still best defined by St. Anselm in the 11th century, is nothing less than faith seeking understanding. Catholics, as our bishops have repeated, approach any moral understanding and analysis of the justification for war primarily from a standpoint of our relationship with Jesus Christ. Not to do so makes the Just War Theory simply another political tool.
Point 2: In the Catholic tradition war, even a just war, is a moral failure. War is the failure of peace. The Church, made up of the baptized, is the Body of Christ in a historical dimension. Jesus made it clear that peace is at the heart of Christian life when he repeated over and over upon encountering his disciples after His resurrection, "Peace be with you."
It seems that the Just War Theory has been hijacked by some politicians and even some theologians as a tool that can too easily be manipulated to "justify a conflict" and give it some moral integrity. John Paul II said that war is a scourge and is never an appropriate way to resolve problems that arise between nations; "it has never been and it will never be." (L'Osservetore Romano, Jan. 21, 1991).
John Paul II again observed on a number of occasions that, "in the end, war is the 'failure of all true humanism, it is always a defeat for humanity, … never again some peoples against others, never again! …no more war, no more war!" It needs to be made clear in Catholic religion curricula that "peace" is our primary individual and social agenda, and the only first response to conflict grounded in Scripture and Tradition.
It is important for us as Catholics to understand that it is inaccurate and ultimately un-Christian to characterize an authentic agenda for Christian peace as a "cut and run" strategy. Would it be correct to accuse Jesus of "cutting and running" when he ordered his disciple to put down his sword when He was being arrested?
As Catholics we are capable of holding onto a legitimate Just War Theory in the context of a primary agenda that calls for peace before conflict. In the Catholic moral tradition, just war and peace are not reduced to choices between the weak and the strong, or as opposites. In the Catholic tradition, the just war is just because it is the only choice that remains to seek true and lasting peace. While the Catholic position cannot be reduced to "peace at any price," it certainly can be understood that pursuing peace can at times demand a heavier cross than pursing armed conflict.
The Just War Theory cannot legitimately be allowed to be abused as a strategy by politicians. It is a tool for every Christian for moral analysis, a tool that ultimately seeks peace for both the aggressor and the victim.
Point 3: Lastly, it is important to clarify, that any truly just war based on the moral tradition as found in Catholic Church, is a war of defense, not of offense. A war of aggression is intrinsically immoral.
In the tragic case where such a war breaks out, leaders of the State that has been attacked have the right and duty to organize a defense even using the force of arms (n. 2265). But, despite the opinions of a limited number of Catholic writers, the fact remains that "pre-emptive" force is not found in the Catholic tradition or in any magisterial teaching and is at best characterized as a modern interpretation, or at worst as an aberration of the tradition. The Catechism addresses this issue directly when it makes the point that any aggression prior to the implementation of a just conflict must be based on a response to "real" damage from an aggressor, that "must be lasting, grave and certain" (n. 2309).
It is clear that Catholic moral tradition is not one of absolute pacifism. There is a clear embrace of the morality of justified self-defense that can be utilized by both individuals and societies. However, it is imperative that we truly understand the Just War Theory for ourselves, and not rely on politicians rather than our bishops to help us both understand and apply it in contemporary society.
In conclusion: Maybe we can understand the value and importance of reintroducing the Just War Theory back into the religion curricula of our Catholic schools and universities, and even our parish adult education programs. Without understanding it within the moral tradition of the Church, it can be removed from the Catholic moral context and reduced to further misinterpretation and abuse by politicians and their pundits.
Vincentian Father Richard Benson is academic dean and professor of moral theology at St. John's Seminary, Camarillo. His column appears monthly in The Tidings.
SOURCE:
http://www.the-tidings.com/2006/0825/benson.htm 
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