Examples of Just and Unjust Wars

Here are some examples of just and unjust wars. Some of these examples
are real and some are hypothetical. This also shows why it is impossible
for the Church of Reality to be against all wars under any circumstances
and why a Realist must evaluate each situation individually in order to
fulfill their religious obligations. Although the final decision to
participate or not to participate lies with the individual, these
examples are here to give explorers guidance in making those choices.

This list shall not be construed by any military or government as church
law in order to compel military service. Church law is that the
individual decides based upon the circumstances of the war and his
individual beliefs as to how he can best serve the cause of peace.
Examples of Wars:

  1. A civil war has broken out in Bosnia. Serbs, Croats, and Muslims
are slaughtering each other over old religious and ethnic issues dating
back over centuries. The United Nations, worried that this conflict will
spread to neighboring countries, has voted to send in a multinational
peacekeeping force in an attempt to end the violence. Your country has
called on you to serve in that peacekeeping force. This would tend to be
a just war because it is a military action to stop an existing war.

  2. Adolf Hitler has invaded Poland and an underground resistance
force has formed to repel the invading Nazis who are hauling off
trainloads of people to death camps to be tortured and executed. In a
case like this it would be highly recommended that the Realist act in
any way, including killing people, in order to undermine the invading
force. When you are defending against an invading tyrant who is
committing atrocities, it is just and moral to stop them.

     Conversely, if you are a German citizen and you are called upon by
Hitler to participate in the atrocities then it is moral and just to
refuse to serve and act against your nations cause to stop the insanity.

  3. You are a citizen of Iraq and the United States has overthrown
your brutal dictator who was using nerve gas against civilian
populations, executed political dissidents, and maintained prisons where
people are tortured, raped, and executed. The United Stated however
after "liberating" you uses phosphorus shells against civilian targets,
runs a prison allowing torture and murder to occur, and is basically
there to install a fascist puppet government run by oil executives. You
are called upon to be part of an insurgency to repel the
liberating/invading force.

     In a situation like this a Realist has a right to seek to free the
nation from all invaders. The Realist is thankful that the current
brutal dictator was removed but is not obligated to accept a puppet
government installed by the liberators. So it may be moral to take
action against the same people who overthrew your dictator. However the
slaughtering of civilians to accomplish this would not likely be
justified.

  4. You are a member of the United States National Guard and you
joined in times of peace and took a military oath. During your service a
new president takes power and he initiates a war based upon lies and
without United Nations support invades Iraq, overthrows a brutal
dictator, installs a puppet government, and commits atrocities against
the civilian population using banned phosphorus shells, setting up a
network of secret prisons where people are tortured and executed.

     As a member of the Guard you are ordered to Iraq to be part of
this unjust cause. what is a Realist to do? In this situation it would
be immoral to participate in a cause that is clearly wrong to objective
observers. A Realist would not willingly participate in such a
situation. The oath to the military would be invalidated because the
military changed its mission from a just cause to an unjust cause and
the Realist has a higher commitment to the Sacred Principles to be on
the right side of justice. Thus the Realist's religious commitment would
take precedence to the commitment to the nation state.

Unfortunately a war effort isn't clearly right or wrong, moral or
immoral, or the good guys against the bad guys. Sometime it's bad guys
against bad guys. Sometimes there is a mixture of good and bad elements.
The are sometimes ways to participate that are productive even in an
unjust war. This is why no one can create hard and fast rules that apply
to every situation. Each conflict is unique and has to be dealt with
individually. That is why Realists must think things through, come up
with a plan for peace, and execute that plan so that whatever the
situation is, the Realist can make it better.

--
"In consciousness dwells the wondrous,
with it man attains the realm beyond the material,
and the Peyote tells us,
where to find it."