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Criteria for ‘Just War’ According to Augustine and Aquinas
Earlier today, TMV co-blogger Tony Campbell took on President Obama for his reference to “just war theory” in his Nobel speech in Oslo. “Just war theory” is generally associated with Christian theology, specifically to Saints Augustine and Thomas Aquinas.
Here is a blog post by Ron Ballew from 2006, which delineates what, under the theory, constitutes a just war. Does Mr. Obama’s new strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan conform with these criteria?
3 Responses to “Criteria for ‘Just War’ According to Augustine and Aquinas”
This is nothing new. Just war and related topics were revisited (and often abused by the Left, including the Religious Left, with the domestic equivalent of Third World “liberation theology” politics) during the evil Reagan Cold Warrior days.
Mark, here is more. You and other users should read and ponder what's here. Some of this is dated (but only marginally so — it addresses the misplacement of criticism from anti-US-nuclear-pathology), but almost of it all is actually timeless, as well as being well-written.
http://www.mmisi.org/ir/19_01/lawler.pdf
Augustine and Aquinas?
What do catholics know about a “just war”? The catholic church has never practiced any of this in it's wars! Murder, torture, subterfuge, oppression, intrigue, outright slaughter on the innocent!
Tell the pope to stuff his phony lecturing up his arse. They have NO moral ground to dictate what is a “just war” and what is not.