1. there can be conflicts between nations without there being war

a. essence--killing, not merely ideological, economical, or cultural conflict

2. Two contrasting philosophical assumptions to the morality of war:

1. "Nations define culture"--if we assume that a society's moral terminology

has been shaped by the particular interests of that society, then whenever a

nation goes to war (whether defensively or offensively) and this effort

expresses the nation's self-interest, war is always right and indeed the

nation's greatest manifestation of its moral strength

1. associated with the Philosopher Hegel (German, died 1831)

2. "Culture is judged by the Moral Law"--if we assume that through our

reasoning abilities we can discover the moral law which transcends

particular cultures and is true for all rational peoples, then war is right

or wrong if it corresponds with this "metahistorical" moral rule

a. associated with the Philosopher Kant (German, d. 1804)

3. Moral Arguments Pertaining to War

1. Just War Theory

a. possibly first proffered by Cicero (Roman statesman and Philosopher,

died 43 B.C.E.)--to curtain the savagery of the Roman conquests,he

proposed guidelines to make their victories just:

2. the criteria: a. defensive

b. must come out better in the end

d. must be right and just against the adversary

3. rejected by early Christian thinkers, but accepted by St. Augustine (bishop

of Hippo, died 430) and St. Thomas Aquinas (Dominican Monk, Paris,

died 1274).

4. Paul Ramsey's modified Just War Theory (a Christian Theologian; from Basic

Christian Ethics, 1950)

a. love of neighbor demands an ethic of preferential love which requires a

duty to protect the neighbor

b. the Just War is legitimate if used to protect the neighbor, not just for self-

defense

1. in the Old Testament

a. it's sanctioned by God in various places--e.g., Judges 5, I Samuel 15,

b. it always pertaining to establishing or punishing Israel

c.a critique to war--Isaiah 2.4; Joel 3.10; Micah 4.3; Psalm 20.7

2. in the New Testament

a. the rule is love towards others--neighbors and enemies; rejects the

rule of revenge--Matthew 5. 39ff; Luke 6.36; Matthew 26.52

b. the right of a government to use police force to secure justice, Romans 13

1. the whole Church must show the virtue of "courageous agape"

2. prayer as alternative to violence

3. the redeeming power of empathy