The Ethics of War and the War in Iraq
We are here tonight to talk about the ethics of war. Now to some minds this phrase “the ethics of war” will likely cause raised eyebrows. “The ethics of war? What can ethics possibly have to do with war? Isn’t war evil?”
Well, of course it is. War is a terrible thing. The existence and prevalence of war in history is, in fact, ample testimony to the depravity and wickedness of Man. The conduct of war involves the intentional killing of human beings and the destruction of property. War inevitably causes untold suffering. I do not think that any rational person can ever say without qualification that war is good. War is something that we would all rather do without. And as Christians it is our earnest hope that someday God, in his mercy and grace, will beat every sword into plowshares and eliminate war from the face of the earth.
But that day has not yet come. For Americans, who have lived in relative peace and safety for many years, war has become an unpleasant reality recently. We have experienced the horror of September 11, 2001, and we face the threat of more such terrorist attacks everyday. In the wake of this injustice, our nation has begun a war on terrorism that has eventuated in the ongoing military actions in both Afghanistan and Iraq. Though most Americans and most Christians support the general war on terror, questions have been raised about our decision to invade Iraq, and public support for the continuing involvement of American forces there is steadily eroding. So, we may ask the question: “Should we continue to fight the war in Iraq?” And many of us are still asking the question of whether or not we should have gone to war there in the first place.
Yet, there are even deeper questions that remain: “Isn’t war evil? Can there be such a thing as the ethics of war?” Throughout history, Christians have often asked these kinds of questions. We know that Jesus told us to love our enemies and to do good to those who mistreat us. He said, “Turn the
Well, of course it is. War is a terrible thing. The existence and prevalence of war in history is, in fact, ample testimony to the depravity and wickedness of Man. The conduct of war involves the intentional killing of human beings and the destruction of property. War inevitably causes untold suffering. I do not think that any rational person can ever say without qualification that war is good. War is something that we would all rather do without. And as Christians it is our earnest hope that someday God, in his mercy and grace, will beat every sword into plowshares and eliminate war from the face of the earth.
But that day has not yet come. For Americans, who have lived in relative peace and safety for many years, war has become an unpleasant reality recently. We have experienced the horror of September 11, 2001, and we face the threat of more such terrorist attacks everyday. In the wake of this injustice, our nation has begun a war on terrorism that has eventuated in the ongoing military actions in both Afghanistan and Iraq. Though most Americans and most Christians support the general war on terror, questions have been raised about our decision to invade Iraq, and public support for the continuing involvement of American forces there is steadily eroding. So, we may ask the question: “Should we continue to fight the war in Iraq?” And many of us are still asking the question of whether or not we should have gone to war there in the first place.
Yet, there are even deeper questions that remain: “Isn’t war evil? Can there be such a thing as the ethics of war?” Throughout history, Christians have often asked these kinds of questions. We know that Jesus told us to love our enemies and to do good to those who mistreat us. He said, “Turn the