Just War Tradition

In this episode of the Foreign Policy ProvCast, Eric Patterson speaks about his book Just American Wars: Ethical Dilemmas in US Military History.

The development of this weaponry raises a question relevant to Christian ethics: Can weaponry be humane?

Cultivating the garden of world order includes tending to the tasks that uphold public safety, execute justice and promote human flourishing.

While the just war tradition has typically focused on international conflict, just war logic has rarely been used to analyze the ethics of border security and border walls. This failure is to our detriment.

Just war theorists should agree that war must be waged according to the rule of law if it is to be considered an exercise of “legitimate authority.” The American system, with its marbling of war powers between the executive and legislative branches, usually requires authorization based on the deliberative consent of the popular will expressed through the people’s representatives in Congress.

In fact, this finger-in-the-dam strategy is the best available option given America’s de facto preference to enjoy relative freedom from jihadist violence without the expense of solving the root problems from which jihadism springs. This style of frontier warfare is the price America pays for regional order on the cheap.

On Veterans Day earlier this month, the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC, hosted an event that addressed how the Bible relates to war. In addition to Mark Tooley, Providence’s co-editor, contributing editors Joseph Capizzi and Eric Patterson participated. Below is an unedited transcript of their remarks and a video of the event.

A century ago, the Great War ended. Remembrance Day is an opportunity to recall those who fought, the fallen, and the costs and sometimes necessity of war.

Two Christian schools of thought might support covert operations and espionage: the just war tradition and a kind of “dirty hands” moralism. The dirty hands view says all those in political power must unavoidably resort to evil for the common good. The just war tradition has a different approach.