The movie Gods and Generals was providentially released just as the movie Gods and President Bush seems to be playing out before our very eyes. In the book Gods and Generals by Jeff Shaara, Confederate General Stonewall Jackson’s thinking is, I find it difficult to follow the authority of the papacy. I’ll follow my own god who is with me and follow his Path and wage war. I don’t have to follow the reasoning of others.

     In the book the narrator says of General Jackson, “But there was something about the papacy he found uncomfortable. He had difficulty accepting that authority, preferring to pursue instead a more personal service to God.” He also pursued his own personal authority to justify his actions to wage war. In the book the narrator says, “He weighed again, as he had so many times, why he would fight, why it was the right thing to do, but all the politics and causes ran together, scrambled his mind into a mass of confusion, and the only clarity was that God was here, was with him, had shown him the Path, and the reasons men gave no longer mattered.”

     General Jackson helped to lead the state of Virginia in an unjust treasonous war that violated the Constitution of the United States of America. History and the movie tell the rest of the story. Our Lady of Fatima said that war is a punishment for sin. The Civil War was a punishment for the national sin of legalized slavery that President Lincoln acknowledged in his Second Inaugural Address. Are we about to face a war for punishment for the national sin of legalized abortion?

 
     Like General Jackson, President Bush’s thinking seems to be, I find the papacy uncomfortable, have difficulty accepting that authority, prefer to pursue instead a more personal service to my own god who is with me, has shown me the Path, and the reasons men give no longer matter. The Path of President Bush is a unilateral pre-emptive preventive offensive strike of war against Iraq regardless of what the papacy or the United Nations says.

      Cardinal Ratzinger said, “The "concept of a 'preventive war' does not appear in the Catechism of the Catholic Church." He said, "The United Nations is the [institution] that should make the final decision. It is necessary that the community of nations makes the decision, not a particular power. The U.N. can be criticized" from several points of view, but "it is the instrument created after the war for the coordination -- including moral -- of politics."

     The Vatican insists that the Iraqi government must comply with U.N. resolutions but at the same time the United Nations, and not the United States, is the sole framework in which this compliance must be pursued. This position was affirmed by the Pope’s envy, Cardinal Pio Laghi, at the end of his meeting with President Bush. He stressed that the decision to use force could only be made in the context of the United Nations, "but always taking into account the grave consequences of such an armed conflict."

     Among the consequences, the Cardinal mentioned "the suffering of the people of Iraq and those involved in the military operation, a further instability in the region, and a new gulf between Islam and Christianity."  He said, "I want to emphasize that there is great unity on this grave matter on the part of the Holy See, the bishops of the United States, and the Church throughout the world." 

     In spite of this great unity, President Bush still insists that he alone can make a unilateral pre-emptive military strike against Iraq regardless of the reasons of the Holy See, the bishops of he United States, and the Church throughout the world and regardless of the decisions of the United Nations.

     President Bush says that liberty “is God’s gift to humanity.” Saddam Hussein deprives his people of liberty. Therefore, he seems to simplistically reason, Saddam Hussein is evil and I must by force of war remove him to bring liberty and stability to the Middle East. God has called me, this is my Path and He is with me. This seems to be the same thinking and signs of a prideful messianic complex that General Jackson exhibited in the Civil War.

 
     In his Second Inaugural Address President Lincoln said, “The Almighty has his own purposes.” The lesson of history is that these were not the purposes of General Jackson. Today God still has his own purposes and these may not be the purposes of President Bush. Those who have not learned from history are doomed to repeat it.

     This is not a political issue but a moral issue. The Church is our Mother and Teacher in matters of morals through the Pope and the Bishops in union with him – in this case the Holy See and the US Bishops. Individual priests, bishops and the laity do not have this authority. Also a few bad US priests and bishops do not make a bad Church. The Church's role is to clearly set forth principles to form the consciences of men and to insist on the moral exercise of just war. The Church is guiding us in the truth of the moral criteria for a just war against Iraq and teaches us that they have not yet been met.

     This is not a matter where everyone can have his or her own opinion. It is a matter of submitting to the ordinary teaching authority of the Church (the Magesterium) that teaches in the name of Christ for all humanity, not just Catholics, that under the present circumstances this would be an immoral war. A first strike preventive war is immoral. The Pope, the Holy See, the US Bishops and the Church throughout the whole world are unanimous on this.

 
     The U.S. should also work through and await the decisions of the U.N. because that’s what international law provides. Paragraph 4 of Article 2 of the U.N. Charter states that nations must not engage in war as a means to resolve international differences. The Holy See's position is that, with reference to Iraq, every action "must be undertaken and decided in the context of the United Nations. Only the U.N. Council has the power to decide on an armed attack as legitimate defense, which presupposes the existence of a previous aggression." There has been no aggression by Iraq. Even though the U.N. does not always promote good morals, we should support the good that it does and follow the Church and international law.

 
     The unjust economic sanctions against Iraq over the last 12 years caused great hardship to the Iraqi people.  "Injustice, excessive economic or social inequalities, envy, distrust, and pride raging among men and nations constantly threaten peace and cause wars. Everything done to overcome these disorders contributes to building up peace and avoiding war." (Catechism of the Catholic Church 2317). 

     In summary, President Bush’s proposed war against Iraq is unjust because there is no such thing as a just unilateral, preventive, pre-emptive first strike; the legitimate authority to make the decision for necessity for war is the U.N., not President Bush, and the proposed war and its grave consequences would be disproportionate to the offense.

 
     So what are we to do? We seem to be politically helpless. Our Congress has given President Bush a blank check with its resolution giving him authority to wage war. They acted like Pontius Pilate, washed their hands of the matter and said, “We won’t have the blood of these innocents (Iraqi civilians) on our hands.”

 
     Prayer and fasting can change the course of world events and stop wars. Let us pray and fast and acknowledge that they, and not missiles of war, are our first weapons against the forces of evil. Pope John Paul II said, “Jesus Himself has shown us by His own example that prayer and fasting are the first and most effective weapons against the forces of evil (cf Mk 9:29).  Let us therefore discover anew the humility and the courage to pray and fast . . . .” The Gospel of Life. Jesus taught us in the beatitudes that the peacemakers are blessed. Let us pray and fast for peace as the Holy Father has pleaded. 

     President Bush said, “Anyone who is not with us is against us.” Well, let’s stand up with the Pope and have the moral courage to say, “We stand up against you, we stand with the Pope and we echo his words”, " ‘NO TO WAR’! War is not always inevitable. It is always a defeat for humanity. International law, honest dialogue, solidarity between States, the noble exercise of diplomacy: these are methods worthy of individuals and nations in resolving their differences.”

     We turn with the Pope towards Our Lady of Guadalupe, and repeat his prayer for the Church in America, “Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mother of America, pray for us!”


      Dan Lynch is a retired Judge in the State of Vermont. He is an author, producer of audios and videos and has appeared on radio and television. He is also the Director of the apostolate of The Missionary Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
 

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