[Aquinasfan]

I don't think he addressed that issue, though I think the same criteria would have applied. The tribal chief would have been regarded as the sovereign. I don't think he would have approved of aggression against the Indians. He certainly wasn't a cultural relativist, and would have regarded missionary work as a good thing. But I doubt he would have condoned the wholesale taking of Indian lands. That's a thorny one.

The question that interests me is the criteria for beginning a civil war. I don't think the American Revolution met the critieria for a Just War. I'm interested in arguments pro and con.

[ELS]

Here are the notes I took. They give you an idea of what Fr. Perricone said (but they don't do justice to his oratory skills).

Revelation

1. Some of the Lord's closest friends were Centurions (mentioned 4 times in Matthew, 3 times in Luke, twice in Mark). He never counsels them against beimg soldiers. They had the duty of laying down their lives for others.
2. The Lord was angry at times; Truth requires justice; in the temple He assaults the moneychangers for defiling His Father's house.
3. Lord's conduct on Calvary; the good theif's testimony -> the state has the right to punish those who threaten the common good

We can be angry when moral good is violated.

Reason

Natural moral law; just war doctrine; double effect

Conditions for just war:

1. Certain an injustice has occurred - clear and unambiguous
2. Rulers of nation must pursue peaceful, reasonable, negotiations until all reasonable means have been exhausted
3. War is declared by the legitimate authority of a nation
4. In execution, must only use force that is proportionate to offense
5. Innocent non-combatants must never be intended for destruction (a war is not illicit just because civilians die - collateral damage)

Double effect conditions:

1. Act is morally good or neutral
2. Good effect can never be a direct effect of an evil act
3. Evil (unintended) consequence must never be intended
4. Even tolerated, unintended consequence can only be tolerated for a sufficiently grave reason

Example

Hiroshima - if "the bomb" hadn't been dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, then at least 100,000 US soldiers and 10's of millions of innocent civilians would have died. This is based on what we know of Japanese military techniques/procedures of that time. The civilians, if not directly bombed, would have died from famine and neglect. When we blanket bombed Tokyo, Dresden, Hiroshima, & Nagasaki we knew innocent civilians would die. There is a continued moral ambiguity among orthodox theologians over the use of a nuclear bomb in WWII. Fr. John Ford, SJ was one of the strongest proponents of the argument that it was wrong to drop "the bomb".

Some comments and observations made during the lecture and Q&A session:

Augustine in 5th century - conditions for moral war; then Thomas Aquinas
Revolution can never be justified - authority is illegitimate (tradition/Thomas Aquinas)
Bernard Johnson, an expert on Islam - from its birth (630-640), Islam has been extremely violent
Paul Johnson, historian - there have been few Muslim peaces; they occurred when Islam had quenched subjugation
By 2015, France & Italy will have Muslim majorities (Fr. Perricone encouraged Catholic couples to have all the children that God wants them to have)
The "War on Terrorism" IS a holy war

Note: An audiotape of this lecture will soon be available. Check the ChristiFideles Web site. The Q&A session was very lively and some very good questions were raised.