Nothing in the history of humankind has been more visibly destructive than war. From the fratricide of Cain and Abel to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to the destructive acts of September 11th, humankind has managed to be an incredibly destructive force on this planet. As I will explain, the tools I learned in the Systematic Theology course has enlightened me on how I have formed a theological understanding on the issue of war. In my own case, experience has played a large role in my theological understanding on the issue of war. In college, I studied political science and US history, and while many tragedies have come through the nation’s wars, it seemed to me like much good had come from them also. Growing up in church, there was not much discussion about it. It seemed to be a given that military service is an honorable profession, and we treated soldiers like heroes. Upon graduation from college, I enlisted in the US Army. It seemed like a good career move, and there had not been much discussion on the suitability of military service for a follower of Jesus. One of the earliest experiences that made me question the suitability of a Christian in military service was the statement during a class at Basic Combat Training (BCT) that I am government property. They say this to justify punishment for seemingly innocuous things such as sunburn--it is, after all, destruction of government property. One thing I knew for certain, I am not the property of some government, not even the government I so cherished and committed to defend. I am the property of none other than my God. The second event, also during BCT, that affected my worldview was the bayonet training. The point of this training is not so much to make so... ... middle of paper ... ...oint where I could not be a part of it any longer. I was very afraid of doing this, but I went ahead and applied to be recognized as a conscientious objector. After nine long months of an arduous process, the military finally recognized my change of thought and honorably discharged me from my military service. This systematic theology class has shed some light on how I formed this theology throughout my time. Within Young Life and most of evangelicalism, I understand that this is a controversial stance. While it would be impossible for kids not to know my particular stance on the issue, my teaching style is never to push my views on secondary issues onto the kids with whom I am working. I believe that the primary thing that the kids should know is that Jesus loves them and wants to have a relationship with them. I would not let my views on war affect that fact.
War is seen as a universal concept that often causes discomfort and conflict in relation to civilians. As they are a worrying universal event that has occurred for many decades now, they posed questions to society about human's nature and civilization. Questions such as is humanity sane or insane? and do humans have an obsession with destruction vs creation. These questions are posed from the two anti-war texts; Dr Strangelove by Stanley Kubrick and Slaughterhouse Five written by Kurt Vonnegut.
BBC. "Christianity and the ethics of war." BBC - Religion. N.p., 3 Aug. 2009. Web. 14 Jan. 2012. .
“Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime.” As depicted in the quote by Ernest Hemingway war is a difficult situation in which the traditional boundaries of moral ethics are tested. History is filled with unjust wars and for centuries war was not though in terms of morality. Saint Augustine, however, offered a theory detailing when war is morally permissible. The theory offers moral justifications for war as expressed in jus ad bellum (conditions for going to war) and in jus in bello (conditions within warfare).The theory places restrictions on the causes of war as well as the actions permitted throughout. Within early Christianity, the theory was used to validate crusades as morally permissible avoiding conflict with religious views. Based on the qualifications of the Just War Theory few wars have been deemed as morally acceptable, but none have notably met all the requirements. Throughout the paper I will apply Just War Theory in terms of World War II as well as other wars that depict the ideals presented by Saint Augustine.
War can be defined as “an active struggle between competing entities. It’s truly hard to tell who is right or wrong during a war. Both sides are fighting for what they believe in and what is true to their heart. In the end there is always two things promised – destruction and death. These two objects can explain the result in every facet of war from the physical to emotional.
The theory of Just War can be found back over centuries to the philosophy of St. Augustine and beyond. Augustine was one of the first important figures to be challenged by the concerns raised by justified warfare. Christianity, despite significant prosecution, grew out of the Roman Empire, which was Pagan. The evolving Christianity was fundamentally pacifist, giving rise to the refusal of Christians to fight in the Roman army; violence was against Jesus’ teaching to turn the other cheek, never seek revenge, not to defend themselves and to forgive seventy times seven. Similarly, they could not justify fighting for a pagan empire, and since initially, they were expecting Jesus to return soon, warfare was not considered an important priority. However, when Emperor Constantine became Christian, he made Christianity the official religion of the empire. Up until this point, Christianity remained pacifist. This was the problem that Augustine was faced with; justifying warfare for a Christian empire.
Many, including the Catholic Church, judge the justifications of a war based on several factors given in the “just war theory,” which is used to evaluate the war based on its causes and means. The first required factor is a just cause, meaning that a nation’s decision to begin a war must be due to “substantial aggression” brought about by the opposition which cannot be resolved through non-violent solutions without excessive cost whereas armed conflict is not hopeless or excessively costly (“Just War Theory”1). In most cases, wars are started for a reason; however, many of these reasons are for the benefit of the governments who start the wars. The just war theory is widely accepted as a way to determine the moral standing of the reasons. This part of the theory is to ensure that the objective of a war is a reasonable and moral one. It prevents the needless bloodshed and loss of human lives over petty disputes while still protecting the rights and lives of the innocent by acknowledging the necessity of war in dire situations.
Many people, including a number of Christian leaders, have questioned whether the war in Iraq is justified (www.AmericanValues.org). They question if it is morally permissible to have used force to remove a tyrannical and aggressive regime from power instead of just disarming it (www.AmericanValues.org). A difficult moral calculus by liberal hawks led to the decision that the opportunity to free the Iraqi people from decades of oppression was worth the risk (Huang 1). Many people would agree that freeing the Iraqi people was a good thing, but they are free now, yet we are still there!
The Christian perspective on war varies with each denomination. While reading the various Christian views on war, I found the article God is Pro-War by Jerry Falwell to be incredibly interesting. Falwell believes there are several instances that God supports and even gives counsel to be smart in war. As I was reading his article I was stopped by a major clarification Falwell makes that weakens the Christian anti-war perspective. Which is that many Christians incorrectly use the sixth commandment to defend their opposition to war. They believe that is “Thou shalt not kill” but it is actually “Thou shalt not commit murder” (Falwell). As Falwell says “there is a difference between killing and murdering” (Falwell) and I completely agree with such
Moral dilemmas are in every decision we make as humans. However, war makes normal everyday rational thoughts irrational, absent minded, and all together altered. Emotion makes us weak, even vulnerable. In times of war, there is no room for emotion or morals. The fact wars are won and lost based on how far a side will push to win proves that emotion plays no part in war. In order to be the most productive, one must push harder than the other. This kind of emotionlessness is more often than not the deciding factor in who wins or loses the game of war. Will letting your opponent win because you feel bad come back to stab you in the back? Is that a risk one is willing to make when defending a nation? Regardless, war on any level is impossible without first burying personal principals and destroying the moral compass.
During that training, I learned that the government was debating the legality of same-sex marriage; at the time, I did not realize it was a political issue, but in retrospect, the political nature of the same-sex marriage debate has become very clear. Besides just starting my exploration in the world of political opinions, the military also helped shaped my political ideology by showing me how important it is to have an effective government. So much of the military is controlled by the president and congress that it became very clear that I had to understand how, and why, the government made its decisions. Part of that understanding was recognizing the political opinions of the people in charge who controlled my paycheck, my job security, and where I was sent in the
I took this class for an elective class my freshman year to junior year. --My high school in Purvis, Mississippi didn’t have it--. Everyone I knew was in the class, therefore it was a must have class. There were drills, promotion boards, PT, and boot camps where we would rappel off towers and do other crazy things. My classmates felt like family after a very short time. I kept the class when my family and I moved from Germany to Texas. My Chief in Texas was just the sweetest old man. He could make you feel at home even if it wasn’t his home. His motivation, advice and care to see me succeed contributed to my grades in high school and my decision to join the military.
War is a universal phenomenon, it is a violent tool people use to accomplish their interests. It is not autonomous, rather policy always determines its character. Normally it starts when diplomacy fails to reach a peaceful end. War is not an end rather than a mean to reach the end, however, it does not end, and it only rests in preparation for better conditions. It is a simple and dynamic act with difficult and unstable factors which make it unpredictable and complex. It is a resistant environment where the simplest act is difficult to perform. In this paper, I will argue why war is a universal phenomenon and what are the implications of my argument to strategists.
I began this course thinking my worldview was that of a Christian Theist, as I had come to discover, as the course progressed, my worldview was a mixed bag of beliefs outside the elementary belief of Christian Theism. I was not disheartened by this finding, but surprised. The realization then set in that I was uneducated or did not know God like I thought. In fact my beliefs appeared to be more influenced by society than the deity of God. Fortunately, this is a learning experience intended to bring me closer to the truths of Christianity and an understanding of the beliefs of others.
In any culture, war has always been a factor whether it is due to religion, communism, nationalism, militarism, or just down right greed. It is a way for one to have control over something that does not belong to them. Recently there has been an argument circulating around anti-religious beliefs that “religion has been the cause of more wars and conflicts than any other factor” (Pimentel). This theory is obviously inaccurate and shows no relevance of any proper research done. Religion is based on one’s faith. Faith can be warped into fanaticism, which is bad no matter what form it comes in. It can motivate a ...
War has been around for centuries. From the time modern civilizations began, war has played an integral part in human history. It shaped the world into the modern world we live in. War has been said to be a great motivator, for example, the Great Wall of China was built to fend off the attackers from the north. However, the negative aspects of war far outweighs any positive effects it might have. The destruction of civilizations, cities and countries, mass killings of men, woman and children alike, the disastrous effect it has on economy and the after effects of war can last for centuries.