Just War

The subject of war has always been an uncomfortable one for me. Or, if not war - because war is inevitable and the most you can do is try to stop it as soon as possible - the subject of Christian rationalization of war.

Aquinas is one of the most balanced views of war that I've read. He puts the emphasis of war on protecting those who are wronged, and trying to wage war "correctly" instead of simply slaughtering the enemy wholesale.

However, the idea of war being "kindly" seems like an almost insulting description. No war I've read about could ever be described as "kindly" or anything approaching it. Again, it seems as though, in an attempt to reconcile the reality of war with a Christian lifestyle, Aquinas obscures how truly terrible war is. The fact that war is inevitable doesn't mean that it has to be rationalized. He quotes Augustine as saying, ""The passion for inflicting harm, the cruel thirst for vengeance, an unpacific and relentless spirit, the fever of revolt, the lust of power, and such like things, all these are rightly condemned in war," which seems ridiculously idealistic in the view of recent wars. Of course, a righteous war sounds good - but what Aquinas describes is almost too good to be true.

Maybe I'm reading too much of a modern perspective into it, but, though Aquinas does have some good points (especially about achieving peace and "uplifting the good"), some of what he says goes too far for my taste.

PS: I'll comment when another post appears.