Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!cis.ohio-state.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: daly@strawber.princeton.edu (John Daly) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Just War Theory Message-ID: Date: 27 May 91 03:18:46 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (CFD) Lines: 38 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article , dhosek@euler.claremont.edu (Don Hosek) writes: |> |> [Some text pertaining to the theory of "Just War" is deleted.] |> |> If we're going to look for a model for a war in the Old |> Testament, why not think about the destruction of Sodom and |> Gomorrah which was not to take place if just one innocent person |> was to be found. In my opinion the death of one innocent person |> is too high a price to pay for any cause, especially if we are |> going to claim the titles of Christian and children of Abraham. Who is innocent? Who other than God is qualified to make that kind of judgement? I ask these questions because it seems to me the very essence of war is disagreement and uncertainty. Without these there could be no wars. If a woman walks into my yard, is she innocent? If she breaks into my house, is she innocent? What if she tries to steal something of mine? What if she has a weapon? What if she murders my wife? Was my wife innocent? Then she turns to murder my children, and finally me. Were they innocent? Was I? Now, review the same sequence of events, but this time I have a gun. I can terminate the chain of events at any point by murdering the woman. At what point should I do so? At what point does she become "not innocent"? At what point does my retaliation become "just"? Is the death of an innocent person too high a price to pay for saving the life of another innocent person? What about two others? Three? Even if it were possible to conduct warfare in such a way that no innocents were ever killed, who among us is qualified to decide whom to spare? As we sit back to contemplate these issues are there even more innocents being killed as a result of our inaction? Questions like these go through the minds of leaders about to declare war. Leaders must answer them as best they know how. I sympathize with them because *I* don't know the answers. God does.