I was born in the 50’s, grew up in the 60’s, and went to war in the 70’s. This was a time of the hippies, whose messages about free love and concern for the environment were intermingled with protests about the Vietnam War. About this time a popular poster by Lorraine Schneider appeared in reaction to the war and its timeless message, “war is not healthy for children and other living things”, is as potent now as it was then.
Lorraine Schneider’s point, that war is hell and that innocent people were dying, was echoed in former President Jimmy Carter’s words, "We will never learn how to live together in peace by killing each other's children". The message on her giant yellow poster with the black lettering and flower may seem trite today, but once again it is taking on more and more significance. The Gulf War, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the pending war in Iran, all remind us that war is hell and that it is still unhealthy for our children and our environment.
Every night on the news and every morning in the newspaper there are stories about the casualties of war. More soldiers killed in Iraq, more bombings in Afghanistan, more genocide in Sudan. Sometimes you even hear about the civilians killed or dying in the hospitals, but rarely do you hear any news about the “other living things” mentioned on Ms. Schneider’s poster. The environmental consequences of waging war are rarely discussed or even acknowledged. How many living things are killed or injured in a war zone every day, how many miles of habitat are destroyed, and what is the overall ecological cost of warfare?
In WW II vast forests were denuded, farm land was rendered unusable, and two bombs named Fat Man and Little Boy totally annihilated two cities, leaving the world with social and ecological devastation that remains with us today. In Vietnam, carpet bombing, herbicidal spraying, and overharvesting of food brought creatures and entire ecosystems to the brink of extinction. Even when the conflict is sold to us as a just war, where humanitarian intervention seems necessary, farm land is destroyed, domestic animals are starved, sickened, or shot, and the full extent of the ecological damage goes undocumented.
These examples of past wars reflect the fact that war is unhealthy for all living things. It is also true in the strategies found in the Gulf war and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and it will remain true in future conflicts such as the pending war in Iran and the threat of war with North Korea. The problem is that in times of war both sides do whatever is necessary to win and in the process they declare war on the species and ecosystems on which we depend. Mr. Carter also said, "War may sometimes be a necessary evil, but no matter how necessary, it is always an evil", suggesting that even the most righteous of wars, even the most noble of causes, can generate the direst of consequences. We look at war in terms of efficiency, the numbers of lives lost, the numbers of cities taken, and in terms of who won and who lost. However, if the spoils of war are dead and dying animals, deforestation, soil loss, air and water pollution, and loss of the ozone layer, then there are no winners: Everyone loses.
Much of the ecological damage from these and other wars may never be repaired, and the countries themselves can remain unstable indefinitely. The pain may no longer be fresh and the wounds may hurt a little less, but those involved will always remember. The impact of our actions remains with us, even as the populations we leave behind struggle to rebuild their lives and destroyed countries. We must remember the people whose lives and countries have been devastated, not just socially or economically, but ecologically as well.
Unfortunately, environmental concern is usually left off the lists of themes in Catholic social teaching, such as the nine themes featured in our book, Living Justice, Catholic Social Teaching in Action. However, within the rich themes of Catholic social teaching there is a natural message to extend the practice to concerns about the environment. It is a theme that fits easily with the call to social responsibility, and we must nurture an attitude of care for the earth that is consistent with the core messages of Catholic social teaching. A disregard for ecological degradation damages not only inanimate objects but also humankind’s overall relationship with our God, each other, and with all of His other living things.
War does not respect the dignity of the human person, because any attack against the earth on which we depend is a threat to all human life. Solidarity requires that our ability to socialize freely should include our communities and all of the natural flora and fauna. The common good must include healthy ecosystems on which every creature depends for its continued existence. Family life is always threatened by the process of war and by the acts of ethnic cleansing. The proper role of government requires it to protect all citizens, and the rights of workers to support themselves and their families must never be abandoned in favor of the winners. There must be respect for the rights of individuals to own and take advantage of their land and property, and boundaries should never be realigned to trap countries into conditions of economic backwardness and subordination. The world-wide Church must continue to insist on preferential options for the poor created by war, bringing its mission to the needy, as an even handed agent of reconciliation between all people.
Christian theology holds that the earth is a gift from God that humans share with all other creatures, and it is obvious that our relationships with other beings, human or not, is affected by the physical environment. To show disregard for the air that others breathe and the quality of the water they drink is to sin against God and against community. A more thorough reverence for God’s creation would allow each of us to participate in a type of solidarity that extends beyond the limits of the human species to include other forms of life and the places that they inhabit. The Church’s tradition of speaking forcefully about the sacredness of life, universal solidarity, and the common good gives it a head start in forming constructive and credible teachings in the area of environmental concern.
Our Christian response to war must be to develop genuine strategies of peacemaking, effective conflict resolution, and a clear accounting of the costs of war, which includes the economic costs, the political costs, the human costs, and the ecological costs. We fight over territory, we fight over religion, we fight over power, and we fight over oil. The fights waged over these things have been too efficient at destroying the resources on which we depend, and soon we will be fighting over water, over food, and over air. The fights we wage over these precious resources in the future will no doubt result in the further destruction of the very resources we are fighting over; proving once again that war is not healthy for children and other living things.
***** Assignment *****
In this assignment I am supposed to apply the nine themes of social teaching to one of the following concrete issues; 1) Just war theory regarding Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, or North Korea; 2) Health care reform inlight of the current health care proposal; 3) The role of the Christian in secular society; 4) Individual sense of the common good, personal autonomy, and personal freedoms; and 5) Immigration policy and the boarder between the US and Mexico. I thought about writing something on the health care debate, but decided it didn't have a clear answer. Then I decided to write something on immigration policy, but I'm too emotionally involved with this issue. In the end, I decided to write this paper on just war theory, with a focus on the environment. We've been asked to be clear about the argument, that the paper should be a balance of principles (~40%) and application (~60%), and that there should be a clear application of the concept.
***** Evaluation *****
This paper was submitted on time, and was eventually returned with comments and suggestions for improvement. His comments are worth passing on, and although I thought I nailed this one, there was room for improvement.
Neale - you have done well on this paper. The introduction is too long for a paper of this length. you could have asserted your premise more briefly and had greater room to support the argument more fully. The following comments may be helpful.
1) Be careful you do not reduce Just War Theory, an important part of Catholic Social Teaching, to an advertising tool.
2) Is there a "pending war" in Iran? Maybe threatened war or possible conflict would be more accurate.
3) Environmental concern is a growing part of Catholic Social Teaching. Massaro's book is an introductory text that presents historical themes which you apply well - solidarity, common good, and human dignity. You then seem to digress.
4) You leave your premise on environmental concerns and begin to argue about ethnic cleansing, economic justice, preferential option for the poor and a litany of other conerns. Stick to your argument.
5) Now in your conclusion, make a clear point and focus the argument.
Neale - you have done well on this paper. The introduction is too long for a paper of this length. you could have asserted your premise more briefly and had greater room to support the argument more fully. The following comments may be helpful.
1) Be careful you do not reduce Just War Theory, an important part of Catholic Social Teaching, to an advertising tool.
2) Is there a "pending war" in Iran? Maybe threatened war or possible conflict would be more accurate.
3) Environmental concern is a growing part of Catholic Social Teaching. Massaro's book is an introductory text that presents historical themes which you apply well - solidarity, common good, and human dignity. You then seem to digress.
4) You leave your premise on environmental concerns and begin to argue about ethnic cleansing, economic justice, preferential option for the poor and a litany of other conerns. Stick to your argument.
5) Now in your conclusion, make a clear point and focus the argument.
