Just War Against Terror by Jean Elshtain

Author:Jean Elshtain
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Basic Books
Published: 2010-06-01T04:00:00+00:00

The pope’s peace message for New Year’s Day 2002 again insists that there exists a right of self-defense against terrorism. The pope writes: “When terrorist organizations use their own followers as weapons to be launched against defenseless and unsuspecting people, they show clearly the death wish that feeds them. Terrorism springs from hatred, and it generates isolation, mistrust and closure. . . . Terrorism is built on contempt for human life. For this reason, not only does it commit intolerable crimes, but because it resorts to terror as a political and military means it is itself a true crime against humanity.”14 Unlike those who insist that poverty and injustice cause terrorism, John Paul II credits those tempted by terrorism with the capacity to repudiate this option. He acknowledges the millions who suffer injustice but do not capitulate to indiscriminate hatred.

Most reprehensible, the pope reminds us, is the terrorist who claims to be killing in God’s name. Such a person is in the grip of a “fanatic fundamentalism which springs from the conviction that one’s own vision of the truth must be forced upon everyone else.” This fundamentalism is, in fact, “radically opposed to belief in God. Terrorism exploits not just people, it exploits God: it ends by making him an idol to be used for one’s own purposes.”15

Nor should those fighting terrorism turn their belief in God into an ideological weapon. It is one thing to ask God for wisdom and guidance and to acknowledge that God judges the nations. It is another to say that we alone fight with God on our side. Other Catholic responses might be noted in which theological categories, or terms with a long tradition within Christian theology (like hope), are deployed as central to understanding and interpreting the present moment. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops urged that when military action is necessary, it alone is not sufficient; that military force must be directed only against perpetrators and combatants; and that a constructive engagement with the Muslim world is necessary. Vengeance must be eschewed, the Catholic bishops said, and deliberate hatred repudiated utterly, even in—or especially in—the fighting of a war. “National leaders bear a heavy moral obligation to see that the full range of nonviolent means is employed,” the bishops write. “We acknowledge, however, the right and duty of a nation and the international community to use military force if necessary to defend the common good by protecting the innocent against mass terrorism. Because of its terrible consequences, military force, even when justified and carefully executed, must always be undertaken with a sense of deep regret.” (emphasis mine)16

Finally, the Reverend Billy Graham, dean of American evangelism, reminded us of the fog of history’s unfolding in his remarks at the service in the National Cathedral for the National Day of Prayer and Remembrance on September 14, 2001. Reverend Graham insisted that he did not know the answer to why God allows tragedy, and that there is a mystery at the heart of this question.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.