I don't know who developed the course's segment on Christian Just War Theory, but from what I've been able to learn, it was poorly done. It seems the course portrayed Jesus as "the mighty warrior" and made comparisons between warfare today and the wars described in the Old Testament. In doing so it ignored much of the long tradition of just war doctrine developed by theologians over the centuries. Although I'm guessing, I suspect the course was put together by someone of a rather "fundamentalist" persuasion.
Rutgers professor James Johnson, who specializes in just war theory, stated, “The Vandenberg course misrepresents the nature of the idea of just war. It not only presents just war as a specifically Christian idea, but its way of describing its Christian nature is at odds with the teaching on just war of major strands of Christianity...Medieval just war thinking was 'Christian' in a broad, undifferentiated sense as a product of a Christian culture and as having been contributed to by Christian canonists and theologians, but that is not the same thing as calling it 'Christian' in the narrow sense used in the Vandenberg course.”
Professor Johnson indicated that the course should have made better use of the medieval theologians who believed that natural law and reason could lead one to an understanding of just war and it's basis. He also believes that Christian just war theory is certainly an appropriate subject in any course on military ethics as long as it isn't used as a vehicle for religious indoctrination. The MRFF, of course, stupidly believes that the inclusion of any kind of Christian thought violates the Constitution; hence their hostility toward the course.
Monsignor Stuart Swetland, professor of Christian Ethics at Mount St. Mary University in Emmitsburg, Maryland, is also concerned about the apparently politically correct decision to suspend the course. He too believes there's a place for Judeo-Christian concepts of just war in a course on military ethics:
“To show intellectual patronage, to show the lineage of an idea, to present objective facts about how these ideas developed – that's not evangelizing or proselytizing; that's just showing the development of intellectual history...Anyone who's intellectually honest, if they present the just war tradition and its intellectual heritage, will have to admit that it's rooted in a Judeo-Christian tradition.”
This all brought to mind a program I instituted about 20 years ago, when I was commanding officer of a naval reserve unit that supported the USS John F. Kennedy. It was about six months before the Gulf War, and I thought it would be beneficial to devote part of one of our reserve weekends to the subject of recall to active duty. At the time there was no thought of going to war since Iraq had not yet invaded Kuwait, but I was concerned that the people in my command were more than a bit complacent and believed there was little chance they would ever be recalled to active duty. As it turned out, when war actually came a few months later, a majority of these people found themselves back in uniform and deployed overseas.
The one-day program, attended by the reservists and their spouses, included segments on finances, civilian employer responsibilities, family issues, preparation and other subjects. But I also included a segment on the Judeo-Christian just war doctrine and asked the base chaplain to assist me with the presentation. Surprisingly it was extremely well-received and resulted in nothing but positive feedback.
Twenty years ago I believed it was important for folks in the military to understand that there was such a thing as a just war and I still believe it. Let's hope the Air Force takes the time to revise their course and present the subject as it should be presented.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:On the Road in Ocoee, Tennessee
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