Last week, I walked by an SUV in the parking lot of the building I work in at ASU. It had a bumper sticker that looked like:
The first time I saw it, I just shook my head and rolled my eyes. But, then I saw it again the next day. And the day after that. And the more I thought about what that bumper sticker was saying, the more incensed I grew. After this past weekend, I grew the resolve to write a letter to this person and leave it on his/her car. It is not my intention to attack the person or his/her beliefs about the war, but to clarify and ensure that the person has an actual understanding of how fallacious such a statement is. As I did a quick Google search to see if anyone else had tackled the issue, I found a letter written by Father Frank Pavone, which I will quote in its entirety:
This column requires extra effort to explain what it is not. It is not an evaluation of the war in Iraq or of any national leaders.
It is, however, an observation, on the level of moral principle, about the relationship between abortion, war, and being pro-life. And even there, I am limiting myself to a couple of very simple and specific points, and not an exhaustive analysis.
In his historic speech to the United Nations in 1965, Pope Paul VI cried out, "War never again, war never again!" The world must heed these words. They don't just mean, "Don't fight!" They mean that we have to make justice and human rights so secure that the need to fight disappears.
Many ask whether one can be a good Catholic or be pro-life and support the war. The answer is yes, which is to say that Catholic and pro-life teaching do allow for circumstances in which war is justified, because sometimes war has to be waged precisely for the defense of life.
Even when war is justified, life is always lost in the process. But innocent life is never targeted, and that makes all the difference in the world. How many innocent lives, and how many children, have been deliberately targeted for destruction in the current war?
By comparison, every abortion deliberately targets and destroys a child; otherwise, it isn't even an abortion.
The purpose of war is not to kill the enemy, but rather to deprive the enemy of his ability to wage war and to destroy others' rights. There's a big difference between targeting military/communications equipment to disrupt the operations of the enemy, and just trying to kill as many people as you can.
No doubt, some will read this column and begin arguing with me that the war in Iraq is not justified. This column is not arguing with them, but precisely pointing out that it is OK for them to come to that conclusion. It is also OK for someone else to come to the conclusion that the war is justified.
What is not OK is for someone to say, "You are not pro-life because you support the war." In fact, one may support the war precisely because he or she is pro-life and concludes that in this case, force is the only way to protect human life, human rights, and human freedom from the hands of those who would destroy it. Others may disagree with the conclusion, which is fine -- but don't deny the other person's right to come to the conclusion.
And do not miss the profound difference with abortion. There is no room for interpretations or evaluations of whether abortion may be justified. It cannot be, because its very essence is the deliberate targeting and destruction of a child. In war, we do not target a single child, whereas every abortion targets a child. Catholic teaching allows more than one position on war, but it does not allow more than one position on abortion.
I do not believe I could have written a letter more succinct or graceful. Obviously, I am not a priest, nor do I attend a Catholic church, but I cannot agree more with this priest in his evaluation of the ridiculous notion that war and abortion can, and should, be compared. What angered me most about the bumper sticker is that it's such a silly and immature ad hominem attack.
It just makes me wonder: what would this person have said about the Revolutionary War, Civil War, or either of the World Wars? How could independence, freedom of slaves, and domination/control of the mass populous by dictatorships been stopped at those times? How would Hitler have responded to peace talks? Is it worth making compromises with these people?
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism.
Winston Churchill
The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways, but the folly of fools is deception.
Proverbs 14:8
On 2008-08-25 11:20:50, Brian Gonsalves said, "wars of aggression"
Dear Sir,
Thank you for taking the time to at least address this important issue, but no thank you regarding the conclusion you have reached. You may have been able to place a bumper sticker, a mere slogan, in doubt, but that does not settle the matter. Frankly, you need to introduce quite a bit more subtlety into your view of war, just as so many of those who are opposed to abortion have been able to be subtle enough to keep an open mind to the possible justification of abortion in the case of incest, rape, and above all in the endangerment of a mother's life.
You have said that you are not Catholic, which I can accept. But you have obscured the clarity of the Church's teaching on wars of aggression, which I cannot. Ever since the Fathers of the early Church, Christians have had a just war theory whose substance is that wars are only acceptable when fought defensively and as a last resort. Wars of aggression, such as the adventures of Bushes senior and junior, are deplorable and disastrous. They cannot be legitimately waged in the name of Christ.
John Paul II vehemently opposed both invasions of Iraq, in case you do not recall. Benedict XVI has not contradicted his predecessor. Is it not apparent that dropping allowing cluster bombs and naplam on children outside the womb in order to protect our selfish oil interests is even worse than unjustly terminating a child's life inside the womb in order to protect the parents' selfish personal motives. You may as well oppose abortion by bombing an abortion clinic when a woman who is going to have an abortion has just arrived inside that very clinic. It makes about as much sense.
Why don't you just print out a bumper sticker that says wars of aggression are not pro-life? That is the only clarification, the only conceivable qualification, that is neccessary to perfectly align the bumper sticker you saw with Catholic Christian teaching. May God enlighten those who champion the rights of those not yet born, but who fail to champion the rights of those who have been born. In the words of G. K. Chesterton, "The only defensible war is a war of defense. In the words of John Paul II to Tariq Aziz prior to the invasion, "God bless you, God bless Iraq".
--- Brian Gonsalves