Rescuing JWT
By David Gushee,
Professor of Christian Ethics, McAfee School of Theology, Atlanta.
There is a lot of talk these days about “best practices”—a concept that fits the Wikipedia age of shared knowledge and pooled resources. Now that we’re into the fifth year of our apparently endless war in Iraq, I suggest here that the historic Christian just war theory (JWT) is a best practice that can help Christians think about war and help world leaders mitigate war’s worst consequences.
However, the misuse of JWT, especially in the United States, is a common “worst practice” that contributes to war. It happened in the run-up to the misbegotten Iraq War, and it happens in the run-up to just about every US war. Partly because of the abuse of JWT, we are a church that can’t “just say no.” That is a violation of the teachings of Jesus and thus a failure in discipleship.
Most presentations of JWT begin with a listing of its criteria, which are more or less as follows:
Just cause—War’s cause is just if it is aimed at stopping the systematic or long lasting violation of the rights of life, liberty, and community of large numbers of people. This can include situations of national self-defense, the defense of neighbors or allies, or international humanitarian intervention.
Last resort—All means of conflict resolution and prevention must be exhausted before going to war.
Just intention—The motives of the war-maker must be restoration of a just peace for all involved, Illegiti-mate motives include personal vengeance, economic gain, territorial conquest, national revenge, or ideological conquest.
Probability of success—No matter how legitimate the war on other grounds, the costs suffered in war require that there must be a reasonable chance of success in waging it.
Clear announcement—The government about to wage war must announce its intentions, the reasons for war, and the conditions that could be met for the ear to be avoided.
Proportionality—War is so costly in lives and treasure that the total gain to be achieved by the war must outweigh the reasonably anticipated costs of that war.
In most presentations of JWT, all seven criteria must be met before a war can be legitimately waged. Moreover, once a war has begun, vigilance must be used constantly to assure that the principle of “noncombatant immunity” is being observed, and “proportionality” (costs and benefits) must be readdressed frequently.
Although they purport to be applying the same criteria, there are two distinct types of JWT adherents in US churches today: the “permissive just war” people, who always or almost always support specific US wars; and the “strict just war” people, who rarely or sometimes support such wars. I believe the split exists because there are assumptions underneath the principles of JWT that strongly tilt their application.
Permissive JWT fears injustice and disorder more than war and assumes that war is essentially inevitable in a sinful world. It tends to trust the US government and sees JWT primarily as an elite tool to be used by national security leaders who along have the information necessary to make decisions about war. It strongly distrusts international institutions, treaties, and perspectives related to US policies and offers a somewhat looser or more expansive interpretation of specific just war criteria. This version of JWT is the one most widely employed in politically conservative Christian circles and is wide open to supporting wars that should not be supported.
Strict JWT, on the other hand, fears the horrors of war most profoundly and assumes that peace, though a difficult achievement, is both normative and possible. It tends to be skeptical of US government claims about the need for war, sees JWT as a tool for discernment and prophetic critique, and believes that international institutions, treaties, and perspectives function as a critically important corrective to US myopia. Finally, it offers a strict interpretation of the specific just war criteria.
I believe that the teachings of Jesus and the New Testament—together with the witness of the world’s bloody history, the destructiveness of modern war, the sobering evidence of how we ended up fighting in Iraq and its grievous costs—provide plenty of reason to embrace strict rather than permissive JWT. Only strict JWT is a Christian “best practice.” The other version must be abandoned.
What should Christ-followers do? Learn the criteria of just peacemaking theory and JWT so well you can say them in your sleep. Teach them in your churches or ask your leaders to teach about them. Establish a peacemaking small group or add a peacemaking dimension to your existing small group/s. Read, watch, and listen widely in diverse news sources so that you have the best information possible about peace/war issues as they emerge. Sharpen your critical edge as a follower of Christ in a sinful world and in a nation that has initiated military action dozens of times in the last two decades. Assume a starting point of skepticism. Be very hard to convince that it is time to start killing people again. Be prepared to say a very public “no.” For the sake of Jesus Christ.
