Just War Theory

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The just war theory is a christian philosophy that was created to prevent warfare between nations by setting certain rules and conditions on when a war should be fought and how it should be fought . The most important part of the just war theory is that war should be avoided and should only be used as a last resort because taking human life is wrong, however, sometimes it is necessary to use war to protect innocent people and morals (Just War - Introduction). The American Revolutionary war should be considered a just war because it follows most the guidelines set by the just war theory and the Americans fought for something that was very important to them, their freedom. However, there is a lot of controversy over the just war theory and its …show more content…
At the time, almost no one in politics wrote about the just war theory in relationship to the just war theory. However, there were many priests that wrote about it. Many believed that the war was ‘ordained by God,’ however, there were also very many who were unsure about the war and whether or not is was just (Fea). For example, John Wesley, a famed 18th-century evangelical, did not understand why the colonists wanted more freedom from the British. He felt that they were being selfish because, at the time, Britain allowed them more liberty than they already had because they were a part of the British empire. Wesley also thought that the fact that many Americans had slaves and still wanted more freedom was ridiculous because they did not give their slaves their freedom. He considered this a sin, as well as, refusing to pay taxes, and destroying British property, like tea. He believed that the fight against taxation without representation was ridiculous because, even though they were not given representation, they still had the follow the laws that Britain put in place. Wesley was very against the war because he believed that the Americans were sinning and asking for more than needed or deserved (Fea). Furthermore, it can be argued that going to war was not yet the last resort for Americans. And, is it possible that Americans overreacted to …show more content…
In April of this year, a conference was held in the VAtican by Catholic peace groups. The purpose was to try to get the Pope to denounce the just war theory and create a new ‘peace theory.’ In the meeting, Pope Francis had a speech about how achieving complete peace is the “ultimate and most deeply worthy goal of human beings” (BBC News). However, Pope Francis, and his three predecessors, promoted military actions against the islamic state group because they believed it is a just fight. Marie Dennis argued the thought that the only way to stop these terror groups is to use violence. She said, “"Our belief would be that as long as we keep saying we can do it with military force, we will not invest the creative energy, the deep thinking, the financial and human resources in creating or identifying the alternatives that actually could make a difference” (BBC News). By this she means that we use violence because it is the easy answer and the first one we think of. The just war theory only makes that worse by allowing us to justify going to war when we think our reasons are just, even if they are not just
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