Arguments Against Just War Theory

Since the beginning of time, Christians as have struggled with the issue of whether war and violence can ever be justified. The just War Theory was created by early Christian’s leaders, which provided a set of conditions offering various principles that political leaders should stick to in a time of war and violence. However over time, the nature of war, weapons, and nations have drastically changed, and have people questioning whether the Just War Theory is actually wrong. The theory was conjured up during an era when war was fought differently. In society today this theory can be argued as being unrealistic. The current conflict happening in our country is the debate whether the US should invade and use nuclear weapons on the war in Syria

Injustice generally involves the act of unfairness and violation to the rights of people. People all around the world have suffered from injustice. Injustice does not involve one topic but variety; it can involve racism, violence, war, sexism, gay marriage, religion, poverty, and so on. Social Justice In Catholic Social Teaching is a broad-spectrum term, and includes three types of Justice. Social justice pertains to the Gospel message of Jesus to the organization, procedures, and regulations of society in order to guarantee the human rights of each person. According to the U.S Conference of Catholic Bishops, “Social justice implies that persons have an obligation to be active and productive participants in the life of society and that society has a duty to enable them to participate in this way.” (Thompson, Pg.611-612). An example of social injustice would be religious discrimination against people who are not Christians or racial discrimination. The three types of social justice are commutative, distributive, and

He believes that the use of such powerful weapons will not ensure noncombatant safety, as well as the radiation that would hang around in the air after would go against the Just War Theory principle of proportionality. Along with the Archbishop, a good amount of theologians have also criticized the use of this theory in modern times because of the strong ability of modern weapons. It is being said that the Just War Theory criteria of proportionality and protection of noncombat are not being met with modern wars. For example, noncombat deaths in World War I were 10 percent of the deaths, while in moderns wars like the United States invading Iraq and the conflict going on in Syria, with noncombat deaths range from 80 to 90 percent. (Rynne, 2016) The Archbishop, theologians, and Christians are bringing light to this topic and asking the question if Catholics should continue support the Just War Theory due to modern advancement in militarization and