Just war?
Someone posted an article on "just war" from an Orthodox point of view in the Orthodox newsgroup. The article, by Fr Stanley Harakas, describes how he had originally thought that the Orthodox view was similar to the Western vfiew of a just war, but he had gradually come to see it differently. The Orthodox Church does not in fact accept the concept of the "just war".
Western Christians respond that this is just playing semantic games, or a cop-out. Orthodox bishops have blessed battleships and other weapons of war. When you come right down to it, they say, the Orthodox Church is just arguing about the name. In practice, it believes and teaches that there is such a thing as a just war.
No, reply Orthodox Christians. It is not just word games. It is true that the Orthodox Church is not a pacifist church. Unlike Mennonites, Orthodox Christians are not morally bound to refuse to fight. But the Orthodox Christian who fights cannot justify the fighting. As one person put it:
No, it is, like many differences between East and West, subtle, and yet
profound. Just War theory allows one to say that the killing of other
people is not a sin. Even if it is only in special cases. In
Orthodoxy, it is always a sin. A grievous sin. It may be
understandable that what was done was necessary for the protection of
innocents, but it remains a sin. A sin which must be repented, and for
which pennance is required. In this way, the taking of human life (even
if considered "necessary") will never be commended or approved.
The difference between, "I am completely justified in this, on the side
of good and justice," and, "Lord forgive me for this terrible deed which
has become my burden to perform," is so great as to be incomparable.
Western theology tends to want the either/or approach. Perhaps it is something to do with seeing salvation primarily as justification. There must be good guys and bad guys, black hats and white hats. Once you have identified the bad guys, anything you do to them is justified, and anything they do must be condemned.
All this talk reminded me of a book I read several years ago, The long long dances by Eric Malpass (London, Corgi, 1978). In the story a boy bullies a younger child, and he terrorises her in a barn, so that, frantic to escape from him, she falls and is badly injured. But he had tossed aside a burning cigarette in order to torment her, and he is trapped in the burning barn. Poetic justice, one could say. He got his come-uppance. But one of the characters reflects on this, "a girl condemned to walk instead of fly, a youth who dies horribly before he starts to live". Two young lives ruined.
So I reread the book, and was struck with how profoundly it reflects the Orthodox view. It is one of a series of books, which are largely humorous tales of an English farming family. They are lighthearted and in parts very funny. Yet there is also a serious side and a sad side, and the comedy is balanced by tragedy.
I thought back on the discussion in the "Orthodox" newsgroup, where about two-thirds of the postings are attempts to justify or condemn a possible US war against Iraq. I've stopped reading most of them, because nothing could be further from the Orthodox worldview, the Orthodox fronima. The arguments on both sides are almost entirely secular. On both sides there is the same fixation on binary opposition, dividing the world into good guys and bad guys.
But it is the "just" which is the biggest problem of all, and it is at that point, it seems, where Western theology differs most markedly from Orthodox theology, because it seems to be based on the assumption that that that which cannot be justified must be condemned, and that which cannot be condemned must be justified. But as Orthodox Christians we are not called to either justify or condemn, but rather to repent.
And this applies not just to things like wars, but to things like abortion as well. The Western tendency is to seek the binary opposition: abortion, and those who practise it, are either justified or condemned. And those who oppose abortion are likewise either justified or condemned. There is no room for repentance, no room for mercy.
Western Christians respond that this is just playing semantic games, or a cop-out. Orthodox bishops have blessed battleships and other weapons of war. When you come right down to it, they say, the Orthodox Church is just arguing about the name. In practice, it believes and teaches that there is such a thing as a just war.
No, reply Orthodox Christians. It is not just word games. It is true that the Orthodox Church is not a pacifist church. Unlike Mennonites, Orthodox Christians are not morally bound to refuse to fight. But the Orthodox Christian who fights cannot justify the fighting. As one person put it:
No, it is, like many differences between East and West, subtle, and yet
profound. Just War theory allows one to say that the killing of other
people is not a sin. Even if it is only in special cases. In
Orthodoxy, it is always a sin. A grievous sin. It may be
understandable that what was done was necessary for the protection of
innocents, but it remains a sin. A sin which must be repented, and for
which pennance is required. In this way, the taking of human life (even
if considered "necessary") will never be commended or approved.
The difference between, "I am completely justified in this, on the side
of good and justice," and, "Lord forgive me for this terrible deed which
has become my burden to perform," is so great as to be incomparable.
Western theology tends to want the either/or approach. Perhaps it is something to do with seeing salvation primarily as justification. There must be good guys and bad guys, black hats and white hats. Once you have identified the bad guys, anything you do to them is justified, and anything they do must be condemned.
All this talk reminded me of a book I read several years ago, The long long dances by Eric Malpass (London, Corgi, 1978). In the story a boy bullies a younger child, and he terrorises her in a barn, so that, frantic to escape from him, she falls and is badly injured. But he had tossed aside a burning cigarette in order to torment her, and he is trapped in the burning barn. Poetic justice, one could say. He got his come-uppance. But one of the characters reflects on this, "a girl condemned to walk instead of fly, a youth who dies horribly before he starts to live". Two young lives ruined.
So I reread the book, and was struck with how profoundly it reflects the Orthodox view. It is one of a series of books, which are largely humorous tales of an English farming family. They are lighthearted and in parts very funny. Yet there is also a serious side and a sad side, and the comedy is balanced by tragedy.
I thought back on the discussion in the "Orthodox" newsgroup, where about two-thirds of the postings are attempts to justify or condemn a possible US war against Iraq. I've stopped reading most of them, because nothing could be further from the Orthodox worldview, the Orthodox fronima. The arguments on both sides are almost entirely secular. On both sides there is the same fixation on binary opposition, dividing the world into good guys and bad guys.
But it is the "just" which is the biggest problem of all, and it is at that point, it seems, where Western theology differs most markedly from Orthodox theology, because it seems to be based on the assumption that that that which cannot be justified must be condemned, and that which cannot be condemned must be justified. But as Orthodox Christians we are not called to either justify or condemn, but rather to repent.
And this applies not just to things like wars, but to things like abortion as well. The Western tendency is to seek the binary opposition: abortion, and those who practise it, are either justified or condemned. And those who oppose abortion are likewise either justified or condemned. There is no room for repentance, no room for mercy.