Attitudes to War & the Just War against Terrorism
A meditation
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It seems certain that the USA is to go to war – or to engage in military activity against international terrorists and those nations and tribes who support or protect them.

What Christian attitudes to such activity are being heard in the churches?

1. The voice of pacifism which states that Christians must not engage in war and that terrorists be brought to justice by other means than warfare. Jesus, it is said, did not resort to force but Muhammad, founder of Islam, did! (We may note that the voice of pacifism has affected the content of recent liturgical books over the last fifty years –e.g., most Anglican Prayer books lack prayers for to use in time of war.)

2. The doctrine of war as a necessary evil. This has been stated in a variety of church reports in the last fifty years as the preferred doctrine of both R C and Methodist leaders and is widely subscribed to amongst socially conservative Christians. War is seen as the lesser evil seeking to overcome the greater evil. Resorting to force at certain times is thus accepted as necessary for the sake of justice but, nevertheless, the participation in this activity by armed forces can never be a virtuous activity, only a necessary evil.

3. The doctrine of the just war. While this was once the general position of most Christians, it is now the doctrine of the few. There is a clear exposition of it by St Thomas Aquinas in his famous “Summa” (II-II.40) and this explanation is in a section not on Justice but on Charity! In the just war, soldiers who follow the rules of justice act virtuously and promote the cause of God’s justice and love in the world for they do his will (see Romans 13:1ff). Much the same doctrine of the just war and the virtuous role of the armed forces is found in Calvin’s “Institutes” and other writings of the Protestant Reformers.

One obvious reason why the doctrine of the just war has lost ground is the nature of modern warfare where the harm to the innocent is multiplied by the use of modern types of weaponry. Another is the general liberal-humanist, Enlightenment view that all war is ignoble and evil.

There is no doubt in my mind but that the USA in declaring a warlike campaign against terrorists responsible for recent atrocities can – can, and I hope will -- fulfill the general requirement and criteria for the just war ( “jus ad bellum”) as set out by Aquinas and others. Where the US leadership needs to be especially vigilant and extremely wise is in HOW it decides to prosecute this warlike campaign (“jus in bello”). It must seek to punish only evil doers and ensure that the use of force is truly a part of the duty to uphold the good. In this context, right conduct in war depends upon the armed forces acting with the right intention and for justice (not out of revenge, hatred, brutality, superiority etc.).

The Church of God and all her members in the USA ought to pray without ceasing for the President, the Cabinet, the Congress, the Armed Forces etc. that they will be led in wisdom to adopt the criteria of the just war and to prosecute this war/campaign with right intention and appropriate use of force. Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines along with CIA and FBI personnel etc. involved directly in this activity ought also to be told that they act virtuously and rightly in their activity of rooting out terrorism and that they serve God as his co-workers for justice in his earth if they keep to the basic rules of the just war. We all need to remember that punishment of sinners and of evil belongs to God in the first place and to those whom he has placed in positions of authority in the second (Romans 13:1-7). The US government therefore needs to humble itself under the mighty hand of God in order to be in the position to execute his justice and to do so with the minimum of harm to the innocent.

Two final points.

1. At the same time as this just warlike campaign progresses, let us not forget that there is also the important Christian duty to care for the multitudes of refugees, the homeless, the widowed, the injured and the bereaved.
2. Further, we need to get Muslim leaders from Indonesia to Morocco to make it very clear to the world that Islam and genuine Muslims do not support or take part in terrorism; and we need to get Christian leaders to say the same of Christianity and genuine Christians. Terrorism as recently witnessed is not holy war or a crusade but a wicked, evil, Satanic reality.

Lord have mercy upon us and guide us aright at this time.
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The Revd Dr Peter Toon, September 26, 2001