What About War

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What About War?

"War is always wrong!"  "War must be available as a last resort!"  "War will always be necessary for the survival of a society!"   With so many competing views on war, and those views being very firmly held, discussing war can lead to heated discussions.  Rather than leaving this field to talk radio and the cable news channels, this article will explore views on war and how it conflicts with other values.  Many appropriate questions are raised when people both defend the need for war or defend the prohibition of war.  The article will explore some of these tough questions.  Further, the article is written from a Christian's perspective and as such, will assume the Christian Scriptures as a basis of values.  For an article on how this perspective influences decisions, see "Making Ethical Choices."

Defining war challenges even the best of scholars due to its ever-changing face.  Traditionally, war's definition included well defined political communities and specific geographical areas of conflict.  Although, even with the change in war, the traditional definition still applies.  For our purposes, war can be defined as an actual, intentional, and widespread armed conflict between political communities.

Is War Inevitable?

To answer this question we must explore what causes war. There are three major factors which contribute to the beginning of a war. First, wars are clearly caused by greed. Leaders of political communities who desired to have more influence historically have waged wars against peoples and locations which would spread influence. Greed increases the desire to take that which is not available by other means. More legitimate methods of acquisition reimburses the owners for loss. Greedy overtake of others limits the ability to oppose the new rulers due to the basic principle: "the one with the biggest gun wins." Wars of this type humiliate the loosing side and seem to unnecessarily exalt the political leaders who captured the new lands. The form of exaltation often places images of the leader everywhere. Within the political climate, the leader may even express the sentiment that the land was rightfully theirs in the first place. Examples include Nebachadnezzar of Biblical times, Hitler of the recent past.¹

Secondly, wars occur due to intolerant ideology. Both unjust intolerance and just intolerance contribute to war's beginning. Justice will be discussed further in the article, however, as a recognition of intolerance, unjust intolerance focus's on ethnic or other types of differences where military leaders use warfare to rid unjustly others based on arbitrary criteria. When limited in geography, this technically does not fit fully into our definition of war, however, actions to stop the injustice may result in a more widespread conflict. Basically, any military action in response to injustice is righteous intolerance. The difference between the intolerance lies in morality.

Finally, wars occur due to preemptive attacks based on knowledge of an intend to strike. This basic concept recognizes the ability, willingness, and intent of an enemy to strike. More than a verbal threat, actions are understood in a context where security of a political group or nation is in jeopardy. There is a line between preemptive strikes and greedy overtake. One way to distinguish between the two is the political environment in which the strike occurs. In context, the preemptive strike is born of a defensive political environment, whereas greedy overtake risks a military endeavor to increase the patriotism of the offending country, raise the political leader's political capital, and spread ideology.

A Historical Perspective. A brief look into history reveals people are not much different today. Classic writings, music, poetry, paintings and other art clearly display our human desire to connect with each other and all of the feelings which come with this. The look of a mother into her child's eyes, the pride of a man at a job well done, the pain of an unexpected loss all display human emotions which has been ongoing through the ages. Benefits of today are more comfortable living, extended life-spans, and a more globally available viewpoint through the rapid spread of information. However, it is a misnomer to conclude human emotions, even that of war, are any different in today's world. The cost of war has always been high for families of soldiers. An honest historical perspective of war includes the emotions which conclude war is painful and not ideal.

Historically, war has not been avoided even in the midst of the high cost. Does the cost make war inevitable? An honest historic perspective concludes war is virtually inevitable. Therefore, war seems to be woven into society because people are inheritantly evil with someone who will attempt to overtake others or someone who is unjustly intolerant of others who wages war to spread the intolerance. While war is undeniably not ideal and humanity must always strive and pray for peace, war has been, and will be for the foreseeable future, inevitable.

Justice, Retaliation, and Love

Principles which permeate a discussion on war include justice, retaliation, and love. From a Christian perspective, love appears to rightfully outshine the others, for God is love. Although true, a closer look into the paradox between love and justice requires more than blanket statements regarding God's character. Based upon scripture and what God did to establish a relationship with us, it is safe to make a few observations. First, God's love did not establish a plan of redemption without fulfilling God's need for a just payment for the sin of humanity. Just payment for sin could only come through God's perfect son Jesus' sacrifice. Without this payment, people have no hope of establishing a love relationship with God. God's perfect character required a payment for sin, love without justice could not reach us. However, it is God's love which offered the only possible payment, the entire transaction of justice is completely beyond our human ability. Our only ability is with our God given strength, receive the free gift of payment for our sin.

Realism, Pacifism, and Just War