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Just War & Who Declares War
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Just War Evaluations
Traceable back to the spiritual and intellectual genius of Saint Augustine of Hippo, the Catholic Church offers abundantly clear guidance, as to when it is "morally permitted to use military force":
483. When is it morally permitted to use military force?
2307-2310
The use of military force is morally justified when the following conditions are simultaneously present:
- the suffering inflicted by the aggressor must be lasting, grave and certain;
- all other peaceful means must have been shown to be ineffective;
- there are well founded prospects of success;
- the use of arms, especially given the power of modern weapons of mass destruction, must not produce evils graver than the evil to be eliminated.
484. In danger of war, who has the responsibility for the rigorous evaluation of these conditions?
2309
This responsibility belongs to the prudential judgment of government officials who also have the right to impose on citizens the obligation of national defense. The personal right to conscientious objection makes an exception to this obligation which should then be carried out by another form of service to the human community.
485. In case of war, what does the moral law require?
2312-2314
2328Even during a war the moral law always remains valid. It requires the humane treatment of noncombatants, wounded soldiers and prisoners of war. Deliberate actions contrary to the law of nations, and the orders that command such actions are crimes, which blind obedience does not excuse. Acts of mass destruction must be condemned and likewise the extermination of peoples or ethnic minorities, which are most grievous sins. One is morally bound to resist the orders that command such acts.
486. What must be done to avoid war?
2315-2317
2327-2330Because of the evils and injustices that all war brings with it, we must do everything reasonably possible to avoid it. To this end it is particularly important to avoid: the accumulation and sale of arms which are not regulated by the legitimate authorities; all forms of economic and social injustice; ethnic and religious discrimination; envy, mistrust, pride and the spirit of revenge. Everything done to overcome these and other disorders contributes to building up peace and avoiding war.
(Compendium of the Catechism
of the Catholic Church)
Using strict criteria for evaluating the moral permissability of military force, the decision maker(s) has the right to impose military service. It would be heinously wrong to prescind from the natural moral law, even when military force is justified. And everything must be done to avoid getting into moral quagmires!
Who Decides on Using Military Force in the United States?
Section. 8.
The Congress shall have Power...
To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations;
To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;
To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;
To provide and maintain a Navy;
To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;
To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;
To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
As to "Who Decides on Using Military Force in the United States", How Many Could Correctly Answer that on Jeopardy?
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About the Author
Joe Tevington is a proudly orthodox Catholic, a husband since 1986, a dad to two married adult children, a grandpa to two, and a civil service retiree. He is a sign language fluent certified rehabilitation counselor with graduate degrees in deafness rehabilitation, religious studies/moral theology, & Christian counseling psychology, as well as a catechetical diploma and certificates in benefits planning and Catholic social ministry. He deeply appreciates Catholic teaching on the sanctity of human life and the sanctity of the transmission of human life, as well as how they are to inform us in our apostolates and ministries.
On much lighter notes, he fancies himself to be the foremost authority on his native Brooklyn, when it comes to architecture, geography, history, Italian food, Saturday Night Fever, stick ball, stoop ball, or wiffle ball.
