An unjust war …

Christian Century, April 10, 2002 by C. Joseph Sprague

I WRITE to challenge three assumptions that are abreast in today's church in the United States and that are finding voice in church publications (See Michael Macdonald's "Caught in the middle," Jan. 2-9). The three assumptions: that the war in Afghanistan finds validation in the just war theory, that the November pastoral letter of the Council of Bishops of the United Methodist Church lacks theological insight, and that the theological and political middle ground is where the vast majority of Christians not only are but should be regarding the war and related issues.

First, given the body count of noncombatants in Afghanistan, a count that at least equals the number of persons killed in this nation by terrorists on September 11, and given the presence of 14,000 U.S. cluster bombs nestled in 118 locations in Afghanistan with their bright hues that attract children to their maiming and killing power, and given the further devastation of a bleak landscape in the unsuccessful hunt for Osama bin Laden and his henchmen, the just war criteria of proportionality and discrimination have not been and are not being met in this war.

The church historically has said that a war is just only when all seven criteria of the just war theory are met before and during the fighting of a war. Clearly, this is not the case in Afghanistan. Further, the just war theory is to be employed only after all nonmilitary means for seeking peace with justice have been exhausted. The rush to war in Afghanistan hardly allowed for nonmilitary means to be employed before the killing began. That this nation intends to fight and expand this war is undeniable. But that such behavior should be blessed by the church under the rubric of a just war flies in the face of the correct application of this historic theory.

Second, the pastoral letter of the UMC bishops condemns violence in all its virulent forms, including acts of terrorism, which are heinous wrongs to be opposed unequivocally. However, to fail to connect horrific acts of terrorism with a culture of violence and a climate that fosters death-dealing machinations is myopic at best.

There is a direct connection between the horror of September 11 and the failure of this nation to broker a just peace in Palestine; between the senseless killings in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania and the estimated deaths, as a consequence of the U.S. imposed embargo, of 5,000 Iraqi civilians each month since the gulf war ended; and between the hatred of much of the Islamic world for the West and the presence of the Western "4M"s--MTV, militarism, McDonalds and Michelob--wherever angry and frustrated Muslims look.

Surely perceptive Christians see the link between calloused killings by terrorists and state-sanctioned violence around the globe, including this nation's embrace of captial punishment, its rush to incarcerate young men of color, and a proposed national budget that elevates military might to the status of a god. When the U.S. military budget for the next fiscal year is projected at $40 billion in excess of the total military expenditures of the next nine nations combined, this nation has been seduced by a modern idolatry. Why do we wonder that many Muslims hate our "Christian" values?

I fail to see how an uncritical embrace of the present war hysteria resonates with the teachings and example of Jesus, honors either the pacifism of the first four centuries of the early church or the rightful application of the just war theory, acknowledges the applause we give to nonviolence each January 17, is informed by the peace statements of many of our denominations and, perhaps most tellingly, correlates with the biblical trajectory of God's hesed and agape that found perfect expression in Jesus, whom we claim as Savior and model.

Third, when the biblical God asks, "Where were my people when they were needed most?" too often we are found sitting smugly and quietly in the safe middle. United Methodists who sit in the middle today, either actively supporting the war or quietly acquiescing in the face of blatant war hysteria, would do well to struggle with our church's social principles.

Supporters of the war, including Good News-ers, are correct to a degree. The United Methodist Discipline does say, "Some of us believe that war, and other acts of violence, are never acceptable to Christians. We also acknowledge that most Christians regretfully realize that, when peaceful alternatives have failed, the force of arms may be preferable to unchecked aggression."

But the Discipline does not stop there. It goes on to say: "We believe war is incompatible with the teachings and example of Christ. We therefore reject war as a usual instrument of national foreign policy and insist that the first moral duty of all nations is to resolve by peaceful means every dispute that arises."

The pastoral letter of the Council of Bishops reflects current United Methodist Church teaching accurately, if not courageously. From my perspective it simply does not go far enough in claiming that teaching and condemning an unwise and unjust war. I say to those who would hide in the silent center, while the war continues and a debate about it is treated as unpatriotic, that history reminds us that the silence of good people provides space for evil to take root and grow.