Just War

Question 1

Christian beliefs

Answer 1

Many Christians argue that war is always wrong, but that it is sometimes necessary to do a wrong action to bring about a greater good. Over many centuries Christian scholars have suggested a list of conditions for a just war.

Question 2

Conditions for a just war

Answer 2

• War must be the last resort
• There must be a serious threat
• There must be a good chance of winning (otherwise the lives of soldiers would be wasted, and if two sides are evenly matched the war could go on for many years)
• Weapons must be used proportionately (not kill more than necessary)
• The decision to go to war must be made by a legitimate authority (many people nowadays feel that this should be the United Nations)
• The ultimate goal must be to restore peace (not to gain land or resources)
• The war itself must be fought in a just way – for example civilians cannot be used as “human shields” and prisoners of war should be treated fairly and not subject to torture.

Question 3

World War 2 Just War Example

Answer 3

• Britain tried peace talks with Germany, but Hitler went back on his word and invaded Poland, so war was a last resort – we tried other things first.
• There was a serious threat, and we defended ourselves against the German invasion in the Battle of Britain.
• At first it seemed very unlikely that we would win, so this criteria was possibly not followed, but we tried and eventually succeeded in persuading America to join us.
• Britain went to war to stop the spread of Nazism. We gained nothing like land or resources, but we did bring about peace.
• Some of our actions did not seem very proportionate – for example the firebombing of Dresden where civilians were deliberately targeted and 25,000 people were killed. Many argue that the American nuclear attack on Hiroshima was not proportionate.

Question 4

Is Just War out of date

Answer 4

• As many countries develop nuclear weapons, it is difficult to keep the criteria of proportionate use of weapons, as WMDs are designed to deliberately target millions of civilians.
• Nuclear weapons also break the criteria of the aim being peace, as it will take many years for a country to recover from a nuclear attack, and radio-active fall-out will cause cancers, deformed babies; farmland will be contaminated so no food can be grown, water will be contaminated and so on
• Nowadays the nature of war has changed, because we are increasingly fighting a war against terror. This enemy has no ‘legitimate authority’, so there is nobody to sign a peace treaty, and it is impossible to ‘win’ because insurgents simply take their tactics elsewhere (for example, ISIS is losing their stronghold in Syria, so spreading their terror tactics to Europe). Just war says that we should only fight if we have a good chance of winning, and the aim should be to bring about peace; neither of these seem possible.