kriz@skat.usc.edu (Dennis Kriz) (02/08/91)
I'd just like to recommend an article appearing in the newest issue of Newsweek [Feb 11, 1991, pg 47], on just war theory. The resurrection and underscoring of the idea that *even* in the state of war, there are moral standards that societies which *say* that they stand for justice must abide by ... is a truly welcome development. We may think that we never do anything wrong, but the incineration of Dresden near the end of WW II though wave upon wave of carpet bombing was simply evil, as was the 1982 no-holds-barred Israeli blitzkrieg through Lebanon ... which found even the Israeli field commanders often violating orders from their superiors... something that was virtually unheard of (in practice) until then. And quite frankly, it was the concern of the Christian churches that *forced* thinking morally about war back on the national agenda. And in an era when we are constantly put down and trivialized for our "old-fashionedness" and beliefs, we should really be proud of that. Too often we hear people saying that we are just a bunch of hypocrites, and that too often we hear people argue that "war is (simply) hell" and that trying to be "moral" about it is "just plain stupid" ... but a *lot* of our Iraqi "neighbors" are alive today because of it. As Christians, we simply need to be compassionate. Whether we agree or not if this war is just, we need to agree that for our conduct in war to be legitimate, our conduct *has* to be just. The U.S. bishops 1983 pastoral "the Challenge of Peace" reminds us, that our conduct toward our enemies in time of conflict is a real test of our sincerity in following the commandment to "love our neighbors as ourselves." And as the song goes, we need to be aware that (even in conflict) "God is watching us ... from a distance" dennis kriz@skat.usc.edu