War and Religion: A Very Short Introduction by Jolyon Mitchell & Joshua Rey

Author:Jolyon Mitchell & Joshua Rey [Mitchell, Jolyon & Rey, Joshua]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780192524720
Google: LYskEAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2021-03-25T00:00:00+00:00

Just war in the Christian tradition

Both Islam and Hinduism start from the position that warfare is, if evil, then permissible and perhaps sometimes a duty. Christianity, as we will see in Chapter 5, was for its first 300 years essentially a pacifist faith. When it became the state religion of the Roman Empire, Christianity had to reconcile pacifist doctrines with imperial power. Different ways were found to justify waging war, using, or abusing, Christian principles. By making war permissible, they also set boundaries on it.

The Eastern Orthodox tradition largely remained closer to the original pacifist outlook—it is instructive, for instance, that the crusades were a largely Western endeavour. The Roman Catholic Church, however, through engagement with the practical and ethical issues of warfare, developed doctrines which have had a broad impact not just on the conduct of religious wars, but on secular thought and international law. Unsurprisingly there are many points in common with the Muslim and even the Hindu outlook. The key principles of this ‘just war doctrine’ are that a Christian nation may fight if it goes to war for the right reasons (jus ad bello, justice in going to war) and if it fights in the right way (jus in bello, justice in war). Within these two categories, different thinkers see different sub-headings. Typically for there to be jus ad bello:

1. the war should have a just cause—national self-defence, protection of the weak and so on

2. it should have legal authority—fighting on the authority of a legitimate state or international body

3. there should be a right intention—the just cause should not be a flag of convenience for pursuing some selfish end

4. war must be the last resort—negotiation, sanctions, etc. must have been tried

5. there must be a good chance of winning and thus achieving the just cause

6. it must be a proportional response—so that it is highly doubtful that a nuclear war could be just

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