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US Catholic Bishops and The Challenge of Peace how just war influences international law today the responsibility to protect justification to the use of force for peaceful purposes Siria and Iraq how would we apply RtoP Today understanding how the Catholics assess this The Challenge of Peace Historial Context 1983 whats going on at the time the cold war between US and soviet union Nuclear arms race raises a number of conflicts satirical name of the nuclear policy M A D its possible that if we go to war we will annihilate the human race Post Vatican II 1962 1965 outcome was reformist thinking new freedoms Peace as a Positive Concept how is peace defined and understood we think about peace as freedom from external influence the absence of anything getting in our way the absence of conflict or war negative here were talking about a greater concept of peace were not only talking about the absence of war but the idea of order human rights positive Peace is not just the absence of war like a cathedral peace must be constructed patiently and with unshakable faith Pope John Paul II Fruit of order which includes 1 respect for the transcendence of war 2 Warrior God waging war on Israel on behalf of this Warrior God War in the Old Testament this was early in history of the people of Israel Post Babylonian exile 547BCE images metaphors of God become more complex with increased attention to cosmic peace achieved throughout covenantal fidelity rise of prophetic tradition Ezekiel Jeremiah etc Hope for messiah and eschatological peace there will be no need for instruments of war Is 2 4 Mi 4 3 God will speck directly to the people and righteousness and peace will embrace each other ps 85 10 11 only war spoken of is in apocalyptic images of eschaton war as image of eschatological struggle between God and Satan with the lamb Jesus Victorious Rev War in the New Testament 17 14 military images metaphors present throughout NT EG sword as image of division armor of God and soldiers Christ brings the sword word of God which causes divan Christ ushers in the kingdom of God meek inherit the Earth and the peacemakers are called children of God Matt 5 3 10 life death and resurrection demonstrates truth and power of love forgiveness and possibility of divine human The Bible and War Today Even a brief examination of war and peace in scriptures makes it clear that they do not provide is with detailed answers to the specifics of the questions which we face today The sacred texts do however provide us with 55 nothing about bombing or nuclear warfare in the bible but there are general texts that can be uses The Just War Tradition moral theory of the just war or limited war doctrine begins with the presumption which binds all christians para 80 3 premises we should do no harm to our neighbors how we treat our enemy is the key test of whether we love our neighbor the possibility of taking even one human life is a prospect we should consider in fear and trembling Neighbor love for Augustine war was both the result of sin AND its tragic remedy para 81 eschatology and the not yet dimension of the kingdom of God more neighbor love just war doctrine springs from neighbor love both in jus ad bellum justice of or for war and jus in bello justice in war forms What justified also limited Paul Ramsey neighbor love also limits how you wage war your going to war for your neighbor but you are also fighting your neighbor Ramsey in the 20th century papal teaching used the logic of Augustine and Aquinas to develop just war thinking in terms of a right of self defense for states in a decentralized international order para 82 just war teaching has evolved as an effort to prevent war para 83 extraordinarily strong reasons requires today for overriding the presumption in favor of peace and against war para 83 prima faice why and when war is permissible jus ad bellum 7 reasons 1 just cause 2 competent authority 3 comparative justice odds are you are partly to blame all parties are involved in bringing about 4 right intention you might have just cause to go to war like defense but you cant go to war out of anger conflict humility virtuous must be to restore justice 5 last resort 6 probability of success 7 proportionality right conduct in war jus in bello 2 pieces to it principle of proportionality don t be wasteful use only necessities principle of discrimination don t target civilians Dresden Germany we firebombed it in 1945 not our countries proudest moment The Historical Just War Tradition Catholic Bishops presumption against war avoid it at all costs Johnson this idea is wrong we have a responsibility to justice recent recovery of the just war tradition JWT in the last 40 50 years resurgence of interest came as result of WWII Paul Ramsey christian ethicsist and Michael Waltzer big part of that more robust use discussion of JWT since 16th 17th cent But important elements of the connection with the earlier tradition the idea of just was in its classic form Johnson 15 aka we ve forgotten JWT in its classical form and we need to remember it The Need to Re connect with the Historical JWT it is vital for Catholic thinking on JWT to reconnect with its History revive notion of use of force not just to protect ones territory but to combat justice and evil in the service of public goods essential element of catholic moral thought is engagement with historical tradition recapture conception of sovereignty as a moral responsibility to combat sterile notion of sovereignty characteristic of Westphalian system


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FSU REL 3170 - The Challenge of Peace

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