WAR AND PEACE

SONG:

RESPECT FOR LIFE

• Life is sacred.
• War is an assult in human life.
• We need to be pacemakers.

THE CHALLENGE OF PEACE

• 1983- pastoral letter of US bishops
• Addressed issues if war and peace.
• Violence in war is complex.

The Church Stance
The Church states war is acceptable as long as it is entered as a defense.

Just War Principles
Set of principles outlining conditions when use violence would be acceptable.

JUST WAR PRINCIPLES

• Just Cause- war is permissible only to confront "Real dange"
• Competent Authority- war must be declared by public authority

COMPARATIVE JUSTICE

• Every part of the conflict should be acknowlede
• They should be a "just cause"

RIGHT INTENTION

• The pursuit of peace and reconciliation
• Ie. Increased economic power in reign

LAST RESORT

• All other peaceful alternatives have not worked

PROBABILITY OF SUCCESS

• Fair degree of certainty must be present.
• The intended results are likely to be achieved.

PROPORTIONALITY
The damage and cost of war must be proportionate to be the good expected by taking up arms.

PACEM IN TERRIS

• PAPAL ENCYCLICAL written by Pope John Paul XXII
• Response to the Cold War
• We need peace, this is always the answer.

PACEM IN TERRIS

• Pope John XXIII said social order is determined on human dignity.
• Everyone has rights!
• Rights symbolize our human dignity.

Catechism 2304-2308
2304 Respect for and development of human life require peace. Peace is not merely the absence of war, and it is not limited to maintaining a balance of powers between adversaries. Peace cannot be attained on earth without safeguarding the goods of persons, free communication among men, respect for the dignity of persons and peoples, and the assiduous practice of fraternity. Peace is "the tranquillity of order."98 Peace is the work of justice and the effect of charity.99

2305 Earthly peace is the image and fruit of the peace of Christ, the messianic "Prince of Peace."100 By the blood of his Cross, "in his own person he killed the hostility,"101 he reconciled men with God and made his Church the sacrament of the unity of the human race and of its union with God. "He is our peace."102 He has declared: "Blessed are the peacemakers."103

2306 Those who renounce violence and bloodshed and, in order to safeguard human rights, make use of those means of defense available to the weakest, bear witness to evangelical charity, provided they do so without harming the rights and obligations of other men and societies. They bear legitimate witness to the gravity of the physical and moral risks of recourse to violence, with all its destruction and death.104

2307 The fifth commandment forbids the intentional destruction of human life. Because of the evils and injustices that accompany all war, the Church insistently urges everyone to prayer and to action so that the divine Goodness may free us from the ancient bondage of war.105

2308 All citizens and all governments are obliged to work for the avoidance
However, "as long as the danger of war persists and there is no international authority with the necessary competence and power, governments cannot be denied the right of lawful self-defense, once all peace efforts have failed."106

SCRIPTURE TEACHINGS

• Psalm 34:15
• Matthew 5:43-48
• Romans 12:17-21

NUCLEAR WEAPONS

• During the Cold War....
• The bishops did not commend US for having nuclear weapons

Nuclear Deterrence
The proposition that when two nations posses the ability to inflict nuclear damage on each other, then neither nations is likely to use its nuclear weapons in the first place.

ACTIONS THE BISHOPS CONDEMN

• Initation do the use of nuclear weapons.
• The further buildup of nuclear weapons.

NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION
Any increase in the number of nations that possess nuclear weapons or that have the capability to build them.

NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION

• Dangerous because...
• It doesn't ensure peace.
• It aggravates the causes of war.
• Impedes efforts to help people in need.
• It stops development.

DEBATE

• One side- for the production
• Other side- with the Church's standing

Gaudium et Specs 81
Talks about the technological advances in today's society. It shows how technology can help a person grow closer to God, as well as show how it can be detrimental to a person's relationship with God. It is the Church's mission to protect human dignity and the common good of all people.

Terrorism:
2297 Kidnapping and hostage taking bring on a reign of terror; by means of threats they subject their victims to intolerable pressures.They are morally wrong.Terrorism threatens, wounds, and kills indiscriminately; it is gravely against justice and charity.Torture which uses physical or moral violence to extract confessions, punish the guilty, frighten opponents, or satisfy hatred is contrary to respect for the person and for human dignity. Except when performed for strictly therapeutic medical reasons, directly intended amputations, mutilations, and sterilizations performed on innocent persons are against the moral law.

NONVIOLENCE

• Jesus teaches us unjust violence us contradiction to God

EXAMPLES OF NONVIOLENCE

• Mahatma Gandhi of India helped his country achieve independence from England without violence
• The Civil Rights Movement
• Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr

Nonviolence conflict- resolving techniques that do not rely on physical or physiological injury of an opponent.

Principles of Nonviolence:
It is a way of life for many, active nonviolent resistant to evil.
Nonviolence seeks to win friendship and understanding. The goal is redemption and reconciliation.
Nonviolence seeks to defeat injustice, not people. Nonviolence recognizes that evildoers are also victims.
Nonviolence holds that suffering can educate and transform.
Nonviolence chooses live instead of hate. Loves restores the community.
Nonviolence believes that the universe is on the side if injustice

Group Work:
Talk in small groups about the least and most important principles of nonviolence. Why did the Catholic Church come up with these?

Conscientious objector- one who for moral or religious reasons is opposed to serving in the military.
If a person has a serious opposition against fighting then they can non-military services

Selective conscientious objector- one who believes that the particular war in which he or she would be called to fight is against his moral or religious principles

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