From the newsletter ...

Just War......? Daily our newspapers and television screens are filled with horrific images and reports: families forced to flee their burnt villages and leave their homeland; more bombs being dropped on buildings, bridges and power supplies; men, women and children being slaughtered and cruelly maimed. Daily we hear our political and military leaders talk about our bombing as part of a "just war". But what is a "just war"? Is this one? And what has the Christian church to say about what is happening in Kosovo? How does war fit with the command to "love our enemies"? Some Christians believe it is never right to fight a war because they believe all war is totally at odds with God's love. They point out that, although the Bible calls us God's enemies and says we have all done evil, God's response to this was to show his love for us in Jesus. Jesus rejected violence and instead suffered even death on a cross at our hands. Similarly, Jesus taught his disciples to "turn the other cheek" and warned them that if they took up the sword then they would be killed by the sword. Christian pacifists rightly remind us that war is always a sign that we are far from God, that using violence (as we are perhaps seeing in Kosovo) often makes the situation worse, and that we need to try to find peaceful ways of solving problems. Down the centuries, however, other Christians, have used the language of "just war". We accept that governments - through the police and the courts - must prevent and punish wrongdoing in society and that sometimes this needs the use of force. But what about when wrongdoing happens abroad and when other governments are being unjust? Must we sit back and do nothing? Don't we have to show love for our Kosovar neighbours who are suffering by doing something to help them? So, some Christians have said that when there is great injustice and evil in other countries, governments can go to war to try and put an end to it. There is, surely, little doubt that the ethnic cleansing of Kosovar Albanians by Serbia would be such a just cause for military action. But having a just cause does not ensure the war is just. War, as we have vividly seen in recent weeks, is itself terrible. It is not like sending policemen into a house to catch a burglar. And so Christians have also insisted that war must be a last resort - negotiations and all other ways of solving the problem must have been tried and failed - and that it must have a reasonable chance of success, of achieving its goal of stopping the evil which led to war being waged. Already we can see that, with such difficult conditions to meet, many wars are not "just wars". But Christians have called for even more limits to war if it is to be just. We sometimes say that the punishment should fit the crime. This means it would be wrong to jail someone for life for driving through a red traffic light! Similarly, there must be a great evil happening if our response is to go to war. This need for proportion means that the level of force we use in war must never be excessive. And, finally, just as at home in the courts we try to discriminate and punish only the guilty and not the innocent, so we must show discrimination abroad when we fight a war. This means that not every target is legitimate and that civilians and services essential for community life must not be directly attacked. We all like to think that we are right to do what we do and politicians and soldiers are no different. They will claim that the wars they fight are just wars. In Kosovo they may be right but we cannot simply assume they are. The Christian teaching about just war can help all of us decide how best to respond to this dreadful situation. It is clear that not all Christians will agree on whether the current war with Serbia is just. Whatever we decide, there are two things we all can and should do out of love for our neighbours and for our enemies. We can and should give to the many charities working to help those in terrible need. We can and should pray, perhaps praying daily for the situation and for those in political leadership with the words of the Lord's Prayer - "Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven... Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours now and for ever. Amen." Andrew Goddard Cogges Parish | Other articles | Previous issue © 1999; Published in Cogges Parish monthly newsletter, number 240, May 1999 cogges.pcc@comlab.ox.ac.uk