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<\/a><\/p>\nDeterrence theory is based upon the concept of the use of threats by one party to convince another party to refrain from initiating some course of action. In 1966, the Second Vatican Council concluded: \u201cAny act of war aimed indiscriminately at the destruction of entire cities or of extensive areas along with their populations is a crime against God and man itself. It merits unequivocal and unhesitating condemnation.\u201d In a pastoral letter in 1983, the US Catholic bishops added: \u201cThis condemnation, in our judgment, applies even to the retaliatory use of weapons striking enemy cities after our own have already been struck.\u201d They continued that, \u201cif something is immoral to do, then it is also immoral to threaten.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even if one holds to a Just War Theory, if there ever were to be a just war, all<\/em> the conditions for the just war would have to be completely and strictly upheld. One of the conditions of Just War Theory is that the lives of innocent civilians are never to be taken directly, regardless of the reason for doing so. If one targeted non-combatants for any reason, the war would be unjust. A nuclear war would be only indiscriminate destruction, with the overwhelming killing of mainly civilians.<\/p>\n As Fr. Charlie McCarthy states (and verified in a personal communication to me):<\/p>\n Since Christian Just War Theory cannot be found in Jesus\u2019 teachings, the question is, why didn’t Jesus include a just war theory or even a justified violence teaching as part of His Way? Did He not know about war and violence and their various justifications? Did He just forget for three years to add that to His teaching?\u00a0 There is no appearance of the Just War Theory in all of the New Testament.\u00a0 In fact, this theory does not appear in Christianity until over 300 years after Christ.\u00a0 Christians in that early era of the church, who were closest to Christ, did not participate in war because they saw it as incompatible with Christ’s life and His teaching.<\/p>\n The Just War Theory is not a dogma of the Church. St. Augustine (after St. Ambrose) in developing the Just War tradition, never said <\/em>there could be a just war. Rather, he stated if <\/em>Christians were ever to participate in a war, these standards would have to be strictly<\/em> and completely<\/em> followed.\u00a0 The strong moral presumption was always against war and in favor of peace.\u00a0 It is quite the opposite of what our sad history has shown.<\/p>\n In the \u201cGospel of Life\u201d<\/a> Pope John Paul II states: \u201cLife, especially human life, belongs only to God: for this reason, whoever attacks human life in some way attacks God Himself.\u201d If done by launching a nuclear weapon, this would be on a catastrophic scale. Pope John Paul II stated that any war is a failure of humanity. In the case of a nuclear war, the final failure for humanity.<\/p>\n Pope Benedict XVI (2009 World Day of Peace Message, no. 13) stated, \u201cIn a nuclear war there would be no victors, only victims. The truth of peace requires that all \u2014 whether those governments which openly or secretly possess nuclear arms, or those planning to acquire them\u2014 agree to change their course by clear and firm decisions and strive for a progressive and concerted nuclear disarmament. The resources which would be saved could then be employed in projects of development capable of benefiting all their people, especially the poor.\u201d<\/p>\n Pope Francis declared on January 1, 2017 (Fiftieth World Day of Peace) that to be true followers of Jesus includes \u201c<\/strong>making active non-violence our way of life\u2026 May charity and non-violence govern how we treat each other as individuals, within society and in the international life\u2026 may non-violence be the hallmark of our decisions, our relationships, and our actions and indeed of the political life in all<\/u> its forms.\u201d<\/p>\n In December 2017, Pope Francis firmly condemned the possession of nuclear weapons for the first time at a Vatican conference on disarmament. The Pope went on to say that if we also take into account the risk of accidental detonation because of error of any kind, and the heightened danger from the threat of their use, their very possession is to be firmly condemned. \u00a0Pope Francis also noted both the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons use and the \u201cfalse sense of security\u201d created by nuclear weapons as reasons for condemning possession, as well as the high cost of maintaining a nuclear arsenal.<\/p>\n The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) is a broad, inclusive campaign, focused on mobilizing civil society around the world to support the specific objective of prohibiting and eliminating nuclear weapons. To join in the work to end nuclear weapons, go to: https:\/\/www.icanw.org\/<\/a><\/p>\n It took 50 years for an estimated 2.5 billion pre-born children to be killed by abortions world-wide. If there was a nuclear war, there could be 7.8 billion people dead (or wish they were dead) in a day or two. As Martin Luther King, Jr. stated: \u201cThe choice is no longer between violence and non-violence, but between nonviolence or nonexistence.\u201d<\/p>\n So, please continue to pray for not only a reduction of nuclear weapons but ultimately that all of them be abolished from the face of the earth. Especially in Russia and the U.S., which together hold 90% of the nuclear weapons in the world.<\/p>\n =============================<\/p>\n For some more of our many posts from Jim Hewes, see:\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Reaching\u00a0the Chaplain that Blessed the Bomb<\/a><\/p>\n A Personal Reflection on a Just War<\/a><\/p>\n Exposing Injustice Through Graphic Images<\/a><\/p>\n Death Penalty and other Killing: The Destructive Effect on Us<\/a><\/p>\n Reflections from My Decades of Consistent Life Experience<\/a><\/p>\n Consistent Life History: Being Across the Board<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" compiled by Fr. Jim Hewes By the end of 1945, the blast, heat, and radiation of the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki had killed an estimated 74,000 human beings made in the image of God in Nagasaki and 140,000 human beings made in the image of God in Hiroshima. Most were civilians. Many… <\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n