Religious Ethics on War Tom 2, Jonny and AJ

“And he will be called a Wonderful Counsellor, mighty God, everlasting father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end.” - Isaiah 9:6-7 “They will beat their swords into plough shares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war any more.” - Micah 4:3 “You shall not murder.” - Exodus 10:13

Why Christians Approve of War C.S. Lewis says ‘turn the other cheek’ does not apply to war as there are other factors than your ego – Jesus professes pacifism in terms of ‘love thy neighbour’ – Lewis claims that war is not necessarily a matter of ego – EG WWI was about defence, WWII was keeping a promise Just War Theory, being of Augustine and Aquinas is held in high regard (especially by Catholics) Biblical precedent of war (and violence): – Deuteronomy 20 "not leave alive anything that breathes… completely destroy them … – Battle of Jericho – Crucifixion of Jesus - God approved as it alleviated sin This can be applied to wars against evil EG overthrowing tyrants (Saddam – 2003, King George 1776)

Fletcher’s views "love thy neighbour," - Fletcher proposed that loving ends justify any means. Fletcher outlined his theory in four "working principles" and six "fundamental principles". The four working principles: Pragmatism - An action someone makes should be judged according to the love influenced in it, so the user must always ask: what is the most loving thing to do? For example, war may not - to a situationist - be considered the most 'loving' thing and so many are quick to deem it as morally wrong. Relativism - Approaching every situation with a relative mind-set and thus opposing legalistic approaches - avoid words such as 'never', 'complete' and 'perfect'. Positivism - The most important choice of all in the teachings in John 4:7-12 is "let us love one another because love is from God". Personalism - Whereas the legalist thinks people should work to laws, the situational ethicist believes that laws are for the benefit of the people. This forces the user to ask 'who is to be helped?' instead of 'what is the law', stressing the importance of people before laws.

Fletcher ““Sometimes you’ve gotta put your principles to one side and do the right thing” –a taxi driver” – Joseph Fletcher Third Principle: Love and justice are the same "Love and justice are the same, for justice is love distributed, nothing else.“ There can be no love without justice. Consider any injustice – a child starving, a man arrested without charge etc. These are examples of a lack of love. If love was properly shared out, there would be no injustice. War to end these things can be justified

What does Fletcher think? Fletcher would condemn this as: It is not done out of a love of God It does not consider the relative outcomes It does not comply with the laws in place within the institution NO!

Why condemn war? When beginning a war he would condemn it if: It is not the most loving thing one can do It does not consider the relativity of its outcomes It is not done out of love for God It does not coincide with established laws