For the third week in a row, I find myself beginning a blog article by mentioning the conflict between Israel and Hamas (see “Escalating Conflict,” 10/10/23 and “The Importance of Building Relationships,” 10/17/23).
The situation in Israel is important in and of itself but my referring to it three weeks in a row is more than that. It’s indicative of the problems we face across the world. It involves the relationships we have with other people. The question I pose today is, “Is life being respected?”.
One can ask the same question for the conflict between the Ukraine and Russia or any other military conflict. In the selection of targets and the intensity of attacks, is life being respected? What about innocent life? Even with the wrongdoers, we must respect life.
The question, “Is life being respected?,” also applies to non-military situations. In dealings between (and within) political parties, are the different sides respecting each other as human beings with dignity?
As a recent high school football game about 25 miles from where I live there was a stabbing between two girls. I have not heard why they were fighting (news reports say they had not attended the game). I wonder if what they were fighting about was really that important? What did the stabbing accomplish? Was life respected in what happened?
I do not mean to say no attack is justified. Neither do I mean to say that the people in this various situations are ignoring the importance of “life.” I pray they are considering life and trying to respect it. What I do mean to say is that all life has value, including criminals, terrorists, and mass shooters. We can defend ourselves in appropriate ways. Unfortunately, at times, life may be lost in a military battle to stop a greater atrocity.
However, the ends do not automatically justify the means. Is the violent act against life necessary? An attack that ends 100 lives is not justified as a respond to an attack that ended a few lives. This is part of Just War Theory. The second criteria of just war theory (as listed on my webpage on the topic) is “comparative justice.” The response to an attack cannot be greater than the original attack. We may seek justice but to respond with greater force is more likely revenge than justice. God does not want us to escalate conflict. The phrase from the Old Testament “an eye for an eye, tooth for tooth” (see Exodus 21:24, Leviticus 24:19-20) is often used to justify the death penalty. That was not God’s intent. People were responding with greater force. God gave the command, “an eye for an eye, tooth for tooth” to limit their response. We must limit our response to what is necessary.
Think of it this way. A person from group “x” kills five people from group “y”. In response group “y” kills 25 people in group “x”. Then, in response group “x” kills one hundred people in group “y”. We must break the cycle of violence.
The fourth criteria of just war theory is “right intention.” We must ask ourselves what is our real motive? One part of this can be to ask if our present response is to the latest attack or are we just using the most recent attack to justify our attack against them.
The sixth criteria of just war theory is “proportionality.” We cannot use force greater than the evil to be eliminated (see Catechism of the Catholic Church 2309). Again, we must break the cycle of violence.
Of course, just war theory is written for “war” but its principles can apply to a conflict between any individuals or groups of differing opinions. We must always respect the dignity of all life. We must respect others as we ask them to respect us. We cannot respond with inappropriate force.
For example, while the Catholic Church is pro-life, thus against abortion, we cannot kill to end abortion. If we want others to respect the life of the child in its mother’s womb, we must respect the life of the abortionist. We disagree with them but we cannot kill them if we are standing up for life.
It is not for us to respond with hate. We are to respond with love. Jesus says so when He tells us to love our enemies (see Matthew 5:43-48, Luke 6:27-28).
I write this during the month of October. October is Respect Life Month. I encourage to take some time in prayer to ask yourself if your actions respect the lives of people you disagree with.
Peace,
Fr. Jeff