Just War and Fighting Fair

In the movie "Saving Private Ryan," Tom Hanks' character gets shot by an enemy soldier he had released instead of shooting. Clearly, the drama of the movie heightens the tragedy of this character's death, but at its foundation, Hank's character demonstrated true virtue in deciding to free the prisoner instead of killing him. My second principle of fighting a just war is fighting fairly. This means, for example, not shooting, torturing, or otherwise mistreating prisoners who have surrendered to you. It also means avoiding civilian deaths as much as possible, even when it means that more of your soldiers will die.

There are a few different sources for this principle in the Christian tradition. First of all, as God's children all human beings are created equal. The death of one pains God as much as the death of another. Each human has inalienable rights, and part of the spiritual practice of waging a just war means recognizing those inalienable rights. Second, privileging one's own soldiers over enemy civilians does not fulfill Jesus' command to love your neighbor as yourself. Finally, because we know that God is with us, and because we believe that death is not the end of life, as Christians we believe that right action is ultimately more important than avoiding death in the short term.

To cultivate these habits of fighting fairly, faith communities should do several things: first, they should learn to fight fairly themselves. While it is very rare for a church argument to end in someone's death (these days, anyway), it is very common for members to sever church ties in anger. Sometimes this is the right decision, but more often than not it comes when people are unable to work out their disagreements, or have been hurt by the conflict. Learning to express feelings openly, honestly, and humbly, and learning to accept and respond appropriately are skills for peacemaking that churches can help members develop. Through practice. Because there will always be something to disagree about. The question is, how is the conflict handled?

A second important spiritual practice is preparing for death and learning to die well. For most of us, death is something we avoid. Learning to accept our own deaths helps us live more fully in the present. We don't postpone our love, or leave undone important work. Death gives us an opportunity to trust God with a tremendous risk, and to recognize our limitations. There are some things worse than death, and living lives of integrity will prepare us, ultimately, to accept our deaths peacefully.

Fighting fairly, then, even in the face of injustice, sacrifice and loss of life, is a key quality of a just war.