CST: State and Just War
N & D:__________________________
I. Jus ad Bello (When is it just to go to war?)
A. Legitimate Political Authority – war must be declared by those in charge of the common good.
B. Just Cause – War is permissible only to confront real and certain dangers.
1. Example = to protect life, human rights, etc.
C. Right Intention – focuses more on motives…Is peace/reconciliation at the center of the decision?
D. Proportionate Response – (or Proportionality) – damage inflicted and cost must be proportionate
to goods expected.
E. Reasonable hope of success – (or Probability of Success) – this doesn’t mean you have to win. It
could be standing up for your beliefs.
F. Last Resort – All other avenues for peace must have been explored …not necessarily done…but
truly considered.
II. Jus in Bello (What is just in war).
A. Proportionality
1. A complete ban on the use of weapons of mass destruction.
2. Deterrence is not a permanent solution. Disarmament is necessary.
3. Consider the effects of nuclear testing, the possession of such weapons by countries, the bombings of
Dresden, Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
B. Right Intention – focuses more on motives…Is peace/reconciliation at the center of the decision?
C. Discrimination between combatants and civilians.
D. Condemnation of terrorism.
1. Terrorism: a subversive strategy typical of extremist organizations aimed at the destruction of material
goods or the killing of people or creating fear.
2. Terrorism fostered when human rights are ignored or suppressed for long periods of time.
3. Distinguish between suicidal terrorism and Christian martyrdom.
III. Capital Punishment/Death Penalty
A. Legitimate defense of the government under certain circumstances, even by deadly force.
B. Need for capital punishment in modern societies as very rare or nonexistent (Evangelium Vitae 56).
IV. Who is the enemy?
(The following text is made up of sections from “A Defense of Culture Wars: A Call for Counterrevolution”, by
Peter Kreeft)
What is the problem?
The problem is to "fight the good fight".
Fight? What fight? Are we at war?
Yes, we are at war. If you are surprised to be told that we are at in the midst of a cultural war, I welcome you back to
earth and hope you had a nice vacation on the moon.
The enemy is not people. The enemy is not humans, but dehumanization: the spectacular and unmistakable social,
cultural, and above all moral decline and decay that our society has been suffering for decades.
At stake in this war is the next generation and the future of this country. It is not a war between generations or races or
political parties or religions or economic classes. It is a war between good and evil.
If you love your children or your country, you must take sides in this war. Neutrality is not an option in wartime. For "the
only thing that is needed for the triumph of evil is that the good do nothing" (Edmund Burke).
What can we do to win this war?
Two things are needed: attitudes and actions. Actions alone are not enough; attitudes come first. Doing all the right
things with the wrong attitude is self-destructive. So the first thing is to take stock of our attitudes. For the spirit in
which we act will stamp itself on all our actions and their results.
1. We must not despair. Social decay is not inevitable. We are not machines; we make machines and fix them. We
can fix America for the same reason we made it: because we are free human beings, not helpless machines. And
we can fix it by the same moral principles by which we designed it more than three centuries ago.
We must believe that the war can be won. We are not pessimists.
2. We must stop trusting the "experts". America is not a nation of experts, by the experts, and for the experts; it is a
nation of the people, by the people, and for the people. Our children are not some educator's guinea pigs. Our
money does not belong first to the state. We work for ourselves and our families, not for the System or the Party.
We must resolve, by a deliberate decision of mind and will, to return control to the people, where it belongs.
3. We must love, not hate. Even if hurt and frustrated, we must not hate, because hate makes only more frustration
and hurt. Love alone heals.
We must love our country, which is hurting. We must love our friends and families, who are hurting. That must be our
motive for action. If it is, we will win.