Great Lakes Bridges: Is there Just War?
Visione di Sant’Agostino, by Vittore Carpaccio, 1502
Yolanda Weima
Is there such thing as a just war?
If there is, then what would make fighting a war just? As PeaceQuest is about “dialogue about peace,” I thought I would share some thoughtful radio programmes on Just War Theory, presenting diverse theorists and theologians discussing similar questions. While Just-War Theory has been around since the 5th Century, there are philosophical and theological alternatives – ones that have me personally convinced that there is no such thing as a just war. But neither of these shows will come to any conclusions for you–both highlight arguments both for and against conceptions of Just War, opening space for further conversation:
As part of a series CBC’s Ideas aired “Just War Theory: So What” in June 2014, a century after the First World War. The participants include Stephanie Belanger from the Royal Military College here in Kingston, and Duke University professor Stanley Hauerwas, among others, discussing the development of Just War theory and where the theory stands today from a variety of perspectives.
In November 2001, just months after the September 11 attacks, American Public Media (APM) aired “Justice and a Just War”, asking similar questions at the beginning of the conflict in Afghanistan, and sharing the diverse standpoints and reflections of a political scientist, a Mennonite theologian, and a Marine Corps veteran.