Just War Theory- pt 1/5

So I haven't posted anything for absolutely donkey's years, the lack of posting is to do with School work. So I'm posting something I qrote about a year ago, This is part one of five. I'm going to be talking about the just war theory- one my most enjoyed subjects. Also, just as a little note on the side, all me work is from my own head, if however I do use someone else's work I will of written a bibliography or the such like. If you want to use any of my work in an essay or any similar thing, it is severely appreciated that you ask me first. :)

Just War Theory

The Just War Theory was developed at a time when armies frequently fought major battles in campaigns of conquests and when Christianity and Catholicism formulated a common cultural framework for the European world. In their society the Just War Theory had a major place in warfare. It kept countries from waging war for territorial reasons and revenge, and it made peace available to all those under Catholicism. However, since that time the world has seen a major shift in 'society' as a whole. We must ask the question - can a ‘just war’ play any part in today’s modern warfare and can it relate to the contemporary structure of international relations? In the following paragraphs I aspire to construct unambiguous reasons for the fact that the Just War Theory is outdated and cannot play any part in today’s society; I will also discuss what we can use instead of Just War Theory.

Just war theory or Bellum iustum has its roots in the thinking of various Roman and Greek philosophers, including Plato, but Catholicism played the larger part in its development. There are several specific criteria that must be met to label a war 'just' ¹(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_War). These criteria are: just cause, comparative justice, legitimate authority, right intention, probability of success, last resort and proportionality. Bellum iustum has two closely related components, Jus ad bellum (Just cause) and Jus in Bello (the laws of war). Jus ad bellum says is that the stimulus for going to war must be just, and thus cannot be based on recapturing stolen items or punishing persons who have done wrong. Also, the lives of innocents must be in critical danger; therefore, the attack must be solely based on saving their lives ¹(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_War). For war to be just, the wrong suffered by one side must significantly overshadow that suffered by the other. This is called comparative justice and is the perception that one side is more in the right than the other. Some people believe that this only works if one of the sides has done nothing wrong. This, of course, is difficult to assess in many cases, as usually both sides have participated in hostility... more to come....

People and noise- (primarily people and nothing to do with noise)

So in my previous post I briefly wrote about the noise, and the obvious thing now would be to talk about the creators of noise- us.

On Sunday, I was in the Cotswolds and during my time there I found myself in a wonderfully quintessential village. As I was pushing my little cousin on some swings I saw a group of ten lads appear on the road outside the park. As I glanced at them I realised something quite amusing: they looked all had scooters, they all wore the same brand of shoes, they all wore the same brand of t-shirt, they all spoke with the same slang, they all had the same mannerisms and they all created the same noise. I found myself chuckling as I watched them trying to slice along the curb and leap over obstacles, but I found the obvious similarity among all of them even more amusing. Isn't it interesting that people do the same things just to fit in or to be accepted.

They all followed the latest crazes and tried to create many mutualities to remain 'in the group'. I only a little older, found this amusing, however, I thought to myself, 'What do I do to fit in, and why?' Why is it that I wore those certain shoes to that certain party? Why is it that I had my hair that particular way when I went to church? Fundamentally, It is so I have even more reason than usual be accepted.

You see, us as human beings (or a highly regenerated form of some glorified monkey, if your an evolutionist) have a desire to be with others. This is evidenced all throughout history. We are social beings, and we will do almost anything to fit in. Our desire for company manifests itself in such a way that we have to stop for a moment and think about why we do certain things and choose to be a certain way. If we are not careful we will find ourselves slipping into a dangerous cycle of conforming, not for ourselves but for others. Be different, be yourself for once.

Noise and people.

For the last 60ish hours I have been in London. While looking around this city, two things really caught my attention. People and noise. The deep choral sound of the big, red buses rumbling down the street. Street vendors making you think you are their perfect customer. Great, old buildings stretching high and wide. The high squeek of the brakes of the tube and buzz of people trying to talk over all the noise. The noise they create. Trying to communicate over the noise that they create by transportation, commution and colour. It creates a fantastic contrast to the peaceful countryside. But is noise a good thing? Is it like marmite, in the sense that you either love or hate it? Or maybe we just get on about it, and just whistle away through our lives, adding to the noise. Just pause for a moment and listen, Can you hear nothing, or do you hear something. Maybe hearing nothing is hearing something. Maybe a little to far, but worth considering all the while. We have a fantastic ability to interpret a subject in many different ways, so maybe we just need to accept it- noise will always be with us. We make noise in everything we do. Maybe the thunderous roar of a jumbo jet or the beautiful syphony from an orchestra. We create it all. More to come...

Individualism?

Think about it... is individualism tearing the world apart? More to come...

*(My own picture so if you want to copy/ use it- you must ask me first)

Perspective of time in a consistent journey.

Set yourself in this scene: You drive every day from home to school or from home to work. This 'pilgrimage' is undertaken most days and is a necessary procedure for every-day proceedings. You seat yourself in your car and drive. You know which route to take (though you might at times experiment with other routes), and you know your surroundings as you take this journey: the dense urban traffic or the peaceful farm track, the beeping of horns or the rush of wind on your face, the sound of heavy machinery and workmen shouting orders. All this after a while becomes unnoticeable and we tend to glide past without the slight curiosity or a hint of acknowledgement. However, this is a great contrast to the first few journeys that were undertaken to work or school. The object of our attention was the present not the future, and an inescapable desire to know and become familiar with our new surroundings; but as we become more familiar and comfortable with our surroundings we spend less of our focus on our immediate surroundings and more on the future events. We see a major shift and what was a journey that used 85 percent of our focus now uses 60 percent or less. So to get to the point, the journey that seemed 15 minutes long now seems like a 10 minute trip, But why is this? To be brief it is because we have less objects to focus on and become familiar with, because we have seen and taken in our surroundings thus thinning our focus to only the essential things. We have begun 'just going through the motions.'

This is also a great reminder of how we live our spiritual lives. In the business of the phsical we need to remember the spiritual. We need to stop going through the motions of Christian life, but rather wage ware against the enemy. We need to remember that we have great influence in these battles and have many ways to do this. God has blessed us with one of the most deadly weapons - prayer. Through prayer we can accomplish anything, the boundaries of the unknown are cast down and God's hand is planted firmly in place providing us with a way to battle.

'The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.' Romans 13: 12.

We need to stop going through the motions and realise how much of a difference we can make. We must have the passion and the drive to serve God now when we have the opportunity. We need to seize every opportunity that falls into our path and grasp it with both hands. We need to fight for the Kingdom.

'And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.' Romans 13:11

I don't wanna go through the motions

I don't wanna go one more day

without Your all consuming passion inside of me

I don't wanna spend my whole life asking,

"What if I had given everything,

instead of going through the motions?"

by J.O.Pike

Focus.

What's your focus? Money, family, cars, people, relationships? With increasing distractions whizzing around our heads it is hard to keep a focus. The increase of globalisation keeps us busy, trying new things and maybe dabbling in things of the past and our focus is so much on what's going to be happening in the future that we can't seem to stay in the present. Our increased drive towards individualism is a fantastic way of showing how we think only of ourselves and those who will benefit us. Take a step back. Just think, how many REAL friends do you actually have? I don't mean facebook 'friends' or work colleagues, nor do I mean the sitcom, I mean close, hardcore friends. Friends who you share your troubles with and who you trust to keep the very personal things about you secret. OK, so you may be wondering at this point what I'm blubbering on about, but to get to the real point that I'm trying to make, I'm asking what it is that keeps our focus and why? All I'm going to say for the moment is think about why you say and do certain things in a particular way. Think about it, we all have a focus, we see people achieving their goals (maybe not to dissimilar to ours) and we do the things and say the things they do or say so we can seemingly get closer to our goal/ focus. However, we as human beings are easily led and get very distracted, so its difficult to maintain your focus. This is of course justifies why we don't achieve to the standard we can. Or does it?