That’s news to me

That’s news to me

The Catholic Peace Fellowship cites me in its demand that Condoleeza Rice not be honored by Boston College.

Even Domenico Bettenelli, Jr., editor of Catholic World Report and author of the popular blog bettnet.org, who would be the first to disassociate himself from the peace movement, believes Dr. Rice should not receive the honorary degree. His reasons, though, are based on her pro-choice position, “and not for any other reason.” [emphasis added]

Huh? I'll admit I'm not a pacifist, but I'm a bit bemused by the finality of their statement. No one even asked me, so how do they know what I would do? They then go on to disagree with me, equating Rice's stance on the war with her pro-abortion views, but like many pacifists they completely miss the point on the Church's just war principles.

The reasons behind a particular war, and the actions performed in a war, must first be weighed before a judgment is made on its morality. However, once this has been done, a Catholic may come to the conclusion that a war is unjust. In this case, any killing done in this actual war would then be actually evil. And at no time in U.S. history has it been clearer to Catholics that a war has been unjust than now, with the war in Iraq.

It may be clear to them, but it's not clear to everyone. Good Catholics can and do disagree with them on whether the war in Iraq is unjust. This is a straw man argument. First they need to prove that the war in Iraq violates the Church's just war principles before they can assert it.

Technorati Tags:
, , , ,

Share:FacebookX

Archives

Categories