War, weapons and right

The world we live in right now and the leaders who govern it (or is govern the right word???) call to mind a bit of wisdom that is understood by few and scarcely dreamt of by most.

A perfect paradigm for teaching this wisdom lies in the current initiative by President Obama to eliminate all nuclear weapons, in the name of consistency, good will and a wholly Christian sense of peacemaking.

I applaud the sentiment, for it indeed seems just, as none can possibly deny a) the hypocrisy of denying other nations access to them; b) the absolute horror that nuclear weapons embody; and c) that we ought, as Christians, to promote peace and good will among all the nations. Blessed are the peacemakers and all that.

The conundrum, however, is this: as a single person, one ought rightly to observe one’s conscience and the teachings of the church in dealing with others. Likewise, a group of people retain a collective conscience, which is ideally a homogenous patchwork of morality and right. But when that group is expanded to the size of a nation, the proportion between the constituents and those governing it becomes tenuous, and—unless buttressed by the pillars of strength that are faith and morality—the ability of the whole organism to maintain that collective conscience erodes.

Moreover, in accepting the governance of a group of such size, one is bound to no longer rely solely on his own conscience in matters of right and wrong—he must, in matters of importance to the state, regularly submit to the collective conscience, whether it is voiced by ballots or by royal council. This voice demands both safety and justice. Therefore he must, at times, employ such means as necessary to achieve these ends, or risk both the stability of his country as well as his reign. Unlike our only true Father, for whom both means and ends are one, the earthly ruler is often bedeviled by these details…for if Christians lived and died wholly by Christ’s teachings, we would surely be extinct.

Though a ruler be just and good, though he be upright in all things, yet when the devil knocks, he must choose between his country…and his soul…

My kingdom is not of this world, said Jesus when questioned by Pilate. As his death approached, he proclaimed: Now is the judgment of the world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. (Jn 12:31)

If Christ is not the prince of this world, then we must understand who the prince of this world is, and we must understand that to be a ruler means to serve under this prince. This is why Christ exhorted us:

And call none your father upon earth; for one is your father, who is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters; for one is your master, Christ. (Mt 23:9-10)

Pray, then, for our leaders, and for the people that they govern, that we may not suffer the end of those who have not faith:

Jesus therefore said to them: If God were your Father, you would indeed love me. For from God I proceeded, and came; for I came not of myself, but he sent me: Why do you not know my speech? Because you cannot hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and he stood not in the truth; because truth is not in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father thereof. (Jn 8:42-44)

Pilate therefore said to him: Art thou a king then? Jesus answered: Thou sayest that I am a king. For this was I born, and for this came I into the world; that I should give testimony to the truth. Every one that is of the truth, heareth my voice.

Pilate saith to him: What is truth? (Jn 18:37-38)

By their fruits you shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, and the evil tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can an evil tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit, shall be cut down, and shall be cast into the fire. (Mt 7:16-19)

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