+ SquanLife

Just War Theory

Every Day our news papers feature stories about Afghanistan. Each day we get new reports of American deaths in that wild country of drugs and terrorism.

The chief of the US operations has suggested an increase in troops.  Our president is collecting information and seeking to make a wise input about a decision. The various parties are lining up on political sides.  But what is the Christian response to all this.

It is my conviction that we not turn to Fox News for the answers; or MSNBC, or the Republican Party or to the Democrats.  It seems to me, that if we are to be serious about the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and the authority of Scripture in our life, then we must take seriously the love ethic of Jesus.

How does this apply when it comes to the decision our president faces about mounting violence in Afghanistan and in the hills of Pakistan.

Some Christians today say we should be Pacifists. This was in fact the earliest application of Jesus’ teaching on love in the first, second, third and fourth centuries of the Christian Church. But as the Christian Church continued to grow and particularly after the fall of Rome in 410 AD, Christianity became the dominant faith in the Western World. At that time there became a significant discussion within Christianity about the possibility for Christian citizens to serve in a national militia.

In the years between 413 and 426AD Saint Augustine of Hippo in northern Africa, wrote a massive work dealing  with Christian social and civil responsibility in the midst of a vastly changing world.  His writings are collected in one of the greatest books of all time called The City of God. It’s a tough read for the modern person, but it contains some of the most important Christian thinking on the practical application of the love Ethic for complex decision making.

In the 13th century another one of the great minds in history, Thomas Aquinas, wrote another book called Summa Theologica.  In his work, he advanced the discussion of war and peace that Augustine had introduced. 

Early Protestant thinkers like Luther and Calvin also wrote on issues of war and peace; grappling with how to apply the Love Ethic of Jesus, always trying to show a Reverence for Life. They have all contributed to what is today  called the Christian theology for a Just war.

It seems to me that we as Christians have two main options for applying the 6th commandment in our attitudes on war.  We either need to take a Pacifist Stance or we can be guided in our thinking by the philosophy of Just War Theory that thoughtfully applies the Love Ethic with a deep reverence for life.

In these weeks, as Barack Obama considers an escalation of our war in Afghanistan, I want to share a few ideas of Just War Theory.  Love should always be the central concern in going to war.

One of the things that Augustine pointed out, is that going to war seldom seems like the loving thing to do, but in fact ther may be a time when love demands war.  To illustrate his point Augustine asks readers to consider a man hitting a boy and another man caressing a boy.  The first case seems bad, but the man might be a father lovingly disciplining his son; the second case seems good, but the man might be a child molester. Augustine then argues that war may be the Just and right thing to do, although it does not immediately appear to be so.

Here are the components of Just War theory

1. A just war can only be waged as a last resort. Augustine, and Christian theologians who followed him, have argued that non-violent options must be exhausted before the use of force can be justified. This is why we give such honor to men like Martin Luther King Jr, Mahatma Gandhi, and to Nelson Mandela as he got older.  These are people who put their lives in danger, by NOT FIGHTING.
2. A war is just, only if it is waged by a legitimate authority. This was one of the sticky issues that the American Patriots diligently sought to establish when they were writing their Declaration of Independence.  They knew they had to distinguish themselves as a legitimate authority in order to justify their violence against the authority of the British Empire.
3. A just war can only be fought to redress a wrong suffered. For example, self-defense against an armed attack is always considered to be a just cause. When Japan attacked America, and when al Queda attacked us on 9-11, these were clear wrongs that needed to be defended against.  But a just war should not be mere retaliation.  It must be justice oriented.  This leads to a fourth point of just war thinking.
4. A war can only be just if it is fought with a reasonable chance of success. Deaths and injury incurred in a hopeless cause are not morally justifiable.  To hurt someone else just because they have hurt you, with no sense that this leads to any form of resolution is not morally defensible.  This leads to the next point.
5. The ultimate goal of a just war is to re-establish peace.  Augustine wrote:  "'We [ONLY] go to war that we may have peace.  More specifically, the peace established after the war must be preferable to the peace that would have prevailed if the war had not been fought. Some look at the war of 1812 as a senseless and immoral war that cost America and England lives with no real advancement of peace.  But others argue that the War established a stronger independence from Great Brittan and a deeper peace that helped establish a relationship between the two nations that has grown into a deep friendship.  Is peace the goal in every aspect of war?  This question seems paradoxical, but it is fundamental to a Christian ethic.
6. The violence used in the war must be proportional to the injury suffered. This point has been at the heart of many of the debates regarding the Israeli and Palestinian debate.  When a Palestinian mob throws rocks that kill a couple soldiers, and then Israel launches an offensive that uses American jets and helicopters to wipe out an entire village killing scores of civilians, this is an offence to the sense of proportionality that many people have.  Yet at the same time, you have an adopted philosophy of Palestinian leaders who are aligned with other strong and hostile nations, all who are dedicated to the complete annihilation of Israel.  What is responsible proportionality is a very complex question.  But it is a question that should be continually addressed in order to maintain ethical sensitivities.
7. The weapons used in war must discriminate between combatants and non-combatants.  Civilians are never permissible targets of war, and every effort must be taken to avoid killing innocent people.  I believe that one of the saddest developments in the theories of war was that promoted and advanced by William Tecumseh Sherman during the Civil War.
   
   He and the other generals in the north and in the south, did their best to keep the war contained to combatants.  At the beginning of the civil war, picnickers would even come out and watch the battles in the safety of the hillsides.  But as the war drug on, and Generals like George McClelland refused to fully engage in all out battle, Abraham Lincoln lost his patience and insisted on extreme measures. Tecumseh complied.  Anyone who has seen Gone with the Wind, knows what he did.
   
   He burned Atlanta, and he utterly destroyed the civilian infrastructure all the way to the sea. This has become a fundamental war principal ever since.  We see it with the Napalm bombs of Vietnam and the Shock and Awe of Iraq.  Just war teaching says that this is tragedy that must be mitigated as much as possible.  The innocent must be protected.

This is just war theory in a nutshell.  But as you can tell, when you start thinking about these things, it can become very complex.  In my way of thinking, we have to work diligently to apply the Love Ethic as we grapple with all these issues.

Lessons in Temptation

Bundled in our coats against the cold on our first day in Rome, Cindy and I walked along the road flanking the River Tiber with maps in hand.  It was my goal to keep our orientation by staying in the open by the river.  A new form of disorientation nevertheless hit us, when a stranger pulled beside us with a powerful temptation.  As we now approach Holy Week and consider the temptations that faced the early disciples that final week that Christ was with them, I am reminded of the lessons in temptation we learned by the River Tiber.  You may find them intrusive for the times temptation tugs at your coat tails.

Our lesson came as we anticipated venturing away from the river  into the deeper confines of the narrow city streets.  We stopped at various intersections to gain our bearings on the map. After one of our orientation checks, a car pulled up beside us and a well-dressed man inside asked in English, “Can you give me directions.” 

I did not realize how disoriented I was in this foreign setting, until I gave him my reply.  “Sorry, I don’t speak Italian.”

“But I speak English,” he responded.  I felt like a fool.  I imagined that since he had spoken with such a strong accent, I would not be able to help him.  He continued by saying, “I need directions to Saint Peter’s.  Can you show me the way?"

Of course I could show him the way!  I knew the answer.  I could help the man.  Although I was a disoriented American pastor in a foreign land, I was being given the opportunity to do the one thing I love best.  I could help somebody.  In that moment I did not consider it strange that an Italian in Rome would ask for directions in English.  Neither did I consider it odd that he didn’t know the location of the largest church in the world, when it was just down the street and around the corner.  I cheerfully gave him directions as I stood on the side walk a few feet from his car.

“I’m from out of town,” he said, leaning across his front passenger seat toward his open window on my side.  “Can you show me on the map?"

“Sure,” I said with only slight hesitation.  “I’d be happy to.”  I could sympathize with him.  I had felt rather disoriented only a few hours earlier, when I was working my way through the maze of cobblestone streets.  I was delighted to have gained my sense of direction, and was pleased to help a lost soul that needed some guidance.  I reached into his car and directed him with my finger on his map.

“Where are you from?” he asked as I gave him directions “I’m from New York”, I said, giving him the closest big city he might know.  I didn’t think he would have heard of Jersey.  “New York!  I have a brother in New York,” he said, his eyes lighting up.  He told me all about his brother, an attorney in New York City.  When I told him that I actually lived on the Jersey Shore, outside New York, he said, “Yes, my brother has been there.”  He continued to tell me about his brother’s family, and his brothers job, and how his brother could help me if I was ever in need.  He then told me of himself.  “I am going to go to New York next year,” he said.  “I work for the fashion industry.  I travel all around.  Look at this beautiful coat that I’m showing at a show today.”  He pulled a folded jacket from a plastic bag and said, “Feel this, it is very fine Antelope leather.  I will be selling these jackets at a fashion show for 2,000 euros.  Here feel it,” he said as he moved it close to my hand.  I drew closer, feeling the soft leather of the jacket. “Isn’t it nice?” he said as I ran my hand back and forth on the soft leather.  He then said, “I hope I can reach the fashion show.  I’ve been driving around and I’m almost out of petrol."  He pointed to the gas gage on his dash.  He showed me his wallet with his credit card.  “None of the petrol stations will take this credit card and I am out of cash.  Could you give me money for some petrol,” he asked.  Reading the growing suspicion on my face he added, “I will give you this jacket, thank you very much."

I looked over at Cindy, who seemed amenable to help him. “How much do you need?” I said, reaching in my pocket for a few coins.  “I need to fill my tank.  Thank you, very much.  I give you this jacket, thank you very much.”  When I paused, his head turned away, and his face carried a look of hurt, distress and indignation at my hesitation to help.

I felt prodded with guilt for my resistance in helping a fellow sojourner in distress.  I had the same feeling I often get when talking to one of the masterful con artist who make the circuit of churches in town. Then in an instant, my foggy brain cleared and it became abundantly obvious that I was in the midst of a con.  I looked around to see if this man had a partner on the street nearby.  We appeared to be physically safe.  “I really don’t want your coat,” I said, “and I don’t have the money to spare.”   We walked away.

He sat with his engine idling saying one last time, “I need petrol. Please, I give you my coat, thank you.”

That well dressed Italian, with his plastic covered coat, expressed the common qualities of many tempting situations.  The personal connection through friendly conversation.  The appeal to my good nature and desire to help.  The family connection with my home. The physical touch.  The promise for me to get something for nothing.  The opportunity for me to do a good deed.  And finally, a prick to my conscience and a stirring of my guilt.  It was all a part of a big Roma con.  I can see it now, but on that misty morning while I was still gaining my bearings, I was almost taken by man whose brother lives in New York. 

There is undoubtedly a man in New York, Seattle or Iowa who came home from Rome with what he thought was an Antelope Coat.  I wish him well.

Crossing to the Other Side

Cindy and I  traveled to Italy on a red eye flight out of Newark.  We arrive in Rome’s Leonardo Da Vinci Airport in the early morning fog.  Once we maneuvered through the passport check point, we located the train station and boarded a local line into the city.  As we fumbled through our papers studying directions and trying to determine how far we would go before transferring to a city bus, gypsy women and children wandered through our train car begging for money.  Some gave them coins.  Others stared at them in disgust.  Some shooed them away.  Most people ignored them.  We looked at them like we didn’t understand a word they were saying, which was true.

After a thirty minute ride, we disembarked at a small outdoor platform covered with graffiti and littered with trash.  There were steps leading off the platform in one direction and a tunnel under the tracks going the other way.  The few people populating the station did not look like the type to offer helpful directions.  A couple loitering young men stood smoking and appearing readying to sell something if asked.  I noticed only a man and woman engrossed in conversation who looked like they were actually waiting for a train. I stood by awaiting a break in their conversation for an opportunity to seek directions to the bus stop.  Thankfully they understood me and spoke enough English to direct us into the tunnel to the city street on the other side. 

A vacant tunnel in a strange and foreign way station on the other side of the world is not the most comfortable of passages.  We took a deep breath and crossed under the tracks with a swift clip.  I welcomed the sight of the busy street on the other side.  A ray of sun poured through the clouds and shined on the shops lining the street.  Groups of young people were hustling to schools.  Workers were headed to jobs.  A pleasant middle aged woman dressed nicely for work pointed us in the direction of the bus stop and told us we would need to first purchase bus tickets at a tobacco shop.  After paying a Euro a piece for tickets, we proceeded to the bus stop, oriented ourselves in the right direction, determined the bus we needed to take, and then pack aboard with the local morning commuters. 

We road the crowded bus for twenty minutes to an old section of Rome called Travestevere.  The last leg of our journey to the hotel was on foot.  We followed directions on our map along narrow cobblestone streets towards our hotel.  After numerous twists and turns through ancient alleyways lined with trashy modern graffiti, our narrow path opened into the courtyard for Trastevere’s Church of Santa Maria.  Breaking into this opening was like coming up for air after swimming through an under water tunnel.  The charming church looking down upon the courtyard is one of the oldest in Rome.  It was the location of a house-church around AD 220 and has gone through various reconstructions and expansions over the years.  The bells ring every fifteen minutes.  From the church we reentered the street maze for one more block until we arrived at L’Hotel Santa Maria.  We passed through a gate off the side of the street and walked down a path to an inner court filled with several orange trees and lined with charming little rooms.  Since it was still breakfast time, we were invited to eat. 

After eating, Cindy laid down for a short nap, but I stayed up, chomping at the bit to head out into the heart of the city.  Within Thirty minutes, Cindy had completed a power nap, and we were once again working our way through the labyrinth of ancient streets.  We came out of the graffiti lined cobblestone maze by the River Tiber, and crossed over the Ponte Sistro, a foot bridge leading to streets with a more manageable grid pattern.  An unshaven man in filthy clothes sat in the middle of the bridge like a Troll guard with a threatening canine by his side.  Like the tunnel earlier in the day, we passed without incident.

GOD USES ORDINARY PEOPLE TO DO EXTRAORDINARY THINGS

Reflections by Elder Jean Worshington:

 

"GOD USES ORDINARY PEOPLE TO DO EXTRAORDINARY THINGS"  Someone used this phrase several months ago and I thought it would be a good basis for my devotion but wasn't quite sure how to use it.  I did want to bring to mind to  some of the ordinary people in the Bible with whom we're familiar who did extraordinary things.

 

Noah who argued with God about building an Ark until God said (to paraphrase). . . how long can you tread water? So backed up against a wall, he built the Ark, a very ordinary man who argued with God about what he was called to do. . . sound familiar?

 

Of course there is David, a man after God's own heart so the Bible tells us. Not only an ordinary man but also a flawed man capable of adultery and murder but used by God in such extraordinary ways and a progenitor of Jesus.

 

The disciples, all ordinary fisherman just as we encounter on the Belmar , Brielle, Point Pleasant docks. They were just ordinary men doing their ordinary jobs until God got hold of them and then they walked with Jesus and what extraordinary men they were.

 

What really prompted this devotion is that over Christmas we were at relatives who live in Fair Haven and they were discussing  Holy Cross church in Rumson which is going to be demolished to make way for a new, larger building. It is a beautiful church about 100 years old. The feeling in the community is that this decision has split the congregation. I couldn't help but think of  our congregation and and all the ordinary people who have done extraordinary things, not only to expand the church building but also to expand the church.

 

The long range vision of the Planning Committee, the By Faith We Build committee, the families who have been in this church for many years, generations even who were willing to see this beautiful old building changed because unselfishly they knew it was needed for future generations.

 

A Pastor and a Staff with the ability to help carry out the vision. The Transition Team, who organized and did the leg work for finding storage, all those who dismantled and helped with that project, Bob Burkitt who retired just in  the nick of time, to become the Project Manager. And once we moved Marcello and  the choir, Cathy Gaestel at the 8 AM service the worship committee,  the flowers and all those volunteers who set up and break down each Sunday which has transformed a theater into a place of worship. A special thank you to Sean and Todd. The Children's Committee, Sunday School superintendent (and wife) teachers, parents and children, young and older, who adjusted to tremendous changes. The Finance Committee that keeps our noses to the grindstone. And all members of  Session who for 3 years have made decisions that have effected the entire congregation and  these decisions have not been easily made.

 

 There are also the Deacon's and  the ongoing work of the church while the building project continues. The food pantry,  and their work but especially at Christmas and Easter, the Community Supper, 105 lunches packed by our  youth for the Asbury Park Center and the homeless in Lakewood, the lay Pastors who care for our shut-ins, 157 shoe boxes filled for Operation Christmas Child. Time does not permit mentioning all those who deserve recognition but God knows who they are. Christ's work has not stopped by this project, if anything it has expanded.

 

 Bill Hybels  devotes one chapter of his book to a concept “this is church”. We are expanding a church building but this year we are also expanding a church as he defines it: quote“a community of real people with real, beating hearts who are attentive to each other and responsive to each other and quick to extend grace and mercy and love”. Unquote. In Esther 4:14 Mordecai's answer to Esther's reluctance to go into the king was “. . . . who can say but that God has brought you into this place for such a time as this”. Who can say but that God has brought all of us into this church for such a time as this.

Ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

 

May God continue to bless our efforts to serve Him.

 

 

First Lunch in Florence

We went to a charming little trattoria for lunch. I had ravioli with a walnut cream sauce.  Cindy had some sort of pasta with herbs.  Great food.  When the waiter gave me back my card and receipt he had over charged me 8 euros.  That's the second time I've been over charged accidentally.  If it happens again, I'm going to think Italian waiters don't know how to add, or that I have some kind of mark on me. 

Florence

Today we arrived in Florence on a fast train from Venice. As all the carnival celebrators were coming into town we were heading out.  Florence is a city famous for Gothic and Renaissance buildings, art galleries, museums, and parks. Michelangelo Park, provides a glorious view of this historic city and all around you can see signs of the influence of Michelangelo who was not only a sculptor and painter, but an architect and poet as well.  The city is dominated by the towers of its many palaces and churches and by the huge dome of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. The Uffizi is a fortress-like building that houses the Uffizi Gallery. The gallery’s large collection includes works by artists such as Raphael, Titian, and Botticelli.  The other major museum of town is the Academia.  It houses Michelangelo's David, one of the artist’s best known creations.  One of Lane’s art professors was commissioned to do restoration work on the Sculpture and as a part of the arrangements was given the opportunity to make a cast of it that is in the cast hall in the Museum at the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Art.  The Santa Maria Novella in Florence is one of Florence’s most beautiful churches. The church, built from the 13th to the 15th century, sits on the north bank of the Arno River and houses many famous frescoes and paintings of the late 1400s and early 1500s.

Venice

 

Yesterday we arrived in Venice .  This is a unique town made up of 120 islands and 177 canals.  There is no place like it on earth.  The Grand Canal, is about two miles long, and winds through Venice

as the main traffic route for the city.  There are no motor vehicles permitted on the narrow, winding lanes and streets that penetrate the old city.  Flooding has become a major problem in the city and this has been the worst year ever.  Saint Mark's Square is in the heart of the city with the majestic Cathedral of Saint Mark's towering over this administrative center of town.  There is also the Doges’ Palace with  two famous granite columns erected, one bearing the winged lion of Saint Mark and the other Saint Theodore of Studium on a crocodile.

Vatican City

 

 

Yesterday was a visit to the Vatican City.  Although this is within the nation of Italy in the city of Rome, this region is an independent state under the absolute authority of the pope.  It is situated on a hill and is surrounded by medieval and Renaissance walls. Many of the most renowned artists and architects of the Italian Renaissance worked on the Vatican's buildings. The most imposing edifice is Saint Peter's Basilica. This was built between the 15th and 17th centuries, and designed by artists, including Bramante, Michelangelo, and Bernini.  Also on this site is the Papal Palace with the Sistine Chapel and its great ceiling frescoes painted by Michelangelo.  There are rooms of the palace with frescoes painted by the Raphael.  The Vatican's museums are also outstanding.  Among them are the Gregorian Museum of Egyptian Art; the Gregorian Museum of Etruscan Art; the Pio Clementino Museum , with a great collection of intiquities; the Chiaramonti Museum ; and the Vatican Pinacoteca, with works from a number of Italian masters. The Vatican Library also has a collection of precious ancient manuscripts.

Rome

We arrived in Rome yesterday.  This is a city filled with great history.  It is an unparalleled repository of monuments from many periods. Roman monuments include the almost perfectly preserved Pantheon which was founded in 27 bc and rebuilt in ad 118-128.  This is considered one of the finest surviving temples of antiquity.  Then there is the Colosseum which was opened ad 80.  Although it is partially destroyed, this huge amphitheater that was the scene of gladiatorial combats and other spectacles, stands as a testimony to the roll of brutal entertainment in western history. Other impressive sites are the great ancient city walls, triumphal arches, great public meeting places, churches, and palaces all about the city.

Airport to hotel

We arrived in Rome this morning. Got 4 hours of sleep on the plane and I'm raring to hit the town. Instead I'm in a little bistro sipping cappicino while Cindy takes a nap. Travel to the hotel from the airport was a lot of fun. We hunted down the train station, caught it to a dumpy graffiti laden stop where we meandered our way around busy streets to a tobacco shop where a bought tickets for a bus. We road that to our hotel area in an old part of the city. Cobblestone streets, bars on windows, graffiti every where. The Hotel Santa Maria is on a long back ally, through a locked wrought iron gate in a charming enclosed courtyard area. We asked several people directions on the way. Real nice people. My friend Tim who lives in Turkey tells me people will give you wrong directions on the streets in Istanbul just to save face. People here gave us great help. Cindy just showed and we are on the road. Yea! something to