The war in Iraq

An Original–and Positive–Contribution

The starting point for a Christian judgment on the current war in Iraq: peace as the fruit of Christ’s presence in history, the only road for reaching the ideals of peace and justice that have always sustained the American dream

BY LORENZO ALBACETE

No to the war; Yes to America” is a judgment based on a point of departure that is different from that of those who support the war as necessary to prevent a greater evil, and those who oppose it for their own political or ideological reasons. Both sides claim to be for peace. The war supporters say that peace is impossible without military action against the forces of Saddam Hussein, while the “pacifists” say it is possible without the war.

Something has happened
How do we know what is or is not possible? We know it from what we have experienced. Either we have experienced it in its totality, or we draw our conclusions from the “logic” of past experiences that point in the direction of what we hope for. Opposition and support of the war both operate within the same logic of what is possible. Ultimately, they follow the logic of force. Their view of what is possible depends on their view of what force can achieve–either military force, the force of international opinion, or the force of mass demonstrations. A judgment based on the Christian faith, however, has a different point of departure. It is a judgment based on what Christ has made and still makes possible. “Peace” is certainly the fruit of his Presence, as He himself said, and as we repeat at every Mass, a peace the “world cannot give.” The problem is that we are tempted to see this “peace” as something entirely “otherworldly,” either as a “spiritual gift” or as a totally eschatological gift without any reference to the peace among nations and persons in this life. Instead, the point of departure for a Christian judgment on what is possible in this world is the experience of something that has happened in history, an event that has happened, and still happens.
This event is the appearance of the grace of God in human flesh, within human time and space. The event of grace creates a people whose identity and hope are entirely the fruit of this event. It is the unexpected presence of “another world” within this one, of new possibilities for human life in this world. The alternative to what this event makes possible is not always the fruit of sin. And indeed, sin cannot triumph over grace! The alternative to the possibilities created by grace is a world of ideals that cannot be reached.

Ideals and betrayals
“ Peace” and “justice” are such ideals. Even the “knowledge of God,” and “true religion” are empty ideals when grace is not present. Without grace, these are “causes” that do not reach their intended goal, even when they are “just” in terms of the world. And since they do not reach this goal, in the end they are harmful; they cause harm. That is why the Pope says that war, even a just war, is always a defeat for man.
And yet, the human heart is good, in spite of sin. Human ideals are good. Ideals such as freedom, justice, and peace are certainly noble ideals. This is what “Yes to America” means. It is a yes to the ideals that have always sustained the “American dream,” especially the passion for personal liberty. In spite of contradictions and betrayals, the passion for liberty has defined America from its origins. Indeed, it is this passion for liberty that unites our nation. Not that all Americans have the same view of what true liberty is. America’s passion for liberty is precisely expressed in the determination to give all a chance to pursue their dreams of liberty.
Still, the good heart of man is wounded, and the best of human efforts fail to reach their just goals. As a result, human ideals suffer from corruption in the human heart. Decay sets in; corruption sets in. No person or nation can ever claim to be the pure agent of goodness. The noblest human gestures cannot begin to be compared to the small steps of a saint moved by the experience of grace. That is why we must set before our nation our testimony of the occurrence of grace, of the happening of grace, as the only way to reach our intended or desired (good) goals.

Protagonists of history
The early Christians, as Fr Giussani told me, were full of defects. They knew they were sinners, no better than anyone else. What distinguished them was their love for Christ. In their encounter with Him through the Church, they had experienced the peace that originates in God’s boundless mercy. They knew such a peace was possible in this world because they had experienced it. They had seen and experienced the destruction of the barriers of enmity built by human sin between people of different nations and religions. Their gratitude for what they had experienced (gratitude is always a fruit of grace) moved them to give witness to what can happen and had indeed happened in this world. And so they became protagonists of history. They changed their world. The world that does not know grace must pursue the great human ideals as best as it can. As St Augustine wrote, this is its business, to construct the earthly city as best it can, even if it is always, in the end, the logic of force that prevails. The “business” (negotium) of the people formed by grace, however, is “to place its hope in the invocation of the name of the Lord God” (eum qui speravit invocare nomen Domini Dei). (Cf De Civ Dei, XV, 25.) So it must be with us today. This “business” is not a matter of numbers, of seeking to increase the numbers of those who accept our judgments.
Indeed, according to St Augustine, it is enough that there be one “generated by the resurrection of the One who was slain.” It is not our task to choose between different positions within the debate for or against war, nor to prove the error in the different views. Our “business” is to give witness to another logic at work in the world. It is to show, as Fr Giussani said, that “reason is with us”–that is, that this other logic corresponds perfectly to the desires of the human heart. We do not “condemn” the way the world without grace seeks justice and peace. Indeed, we are prepared to collaborate with all such efforts to the degree that they do not compel us to abandon our point of departure, meaning, as long as they do not require us to acknowledge worldly power as an instrument of salvation.
It is not that we are better than anyone else. It is that we have experienced the reconciliation, the destruction of barriers of hatred and incomprehension brought about by mercy, by grace. It is from this perspective that we affirm that war is always a defeat for man. We do not expect the definitive victory of the peace that Christ’s brings until the end of history. The grace of Christ is present in the world as a ferment in its history. It is present as an education in authentic liberty.

Truly free
Education is the path to peace. It is through education that we truly work for peace. Education is the way we learn what we must learn in order to live a life that corresponds to what is possible for us, that corresponds, that is, to the destiny for which we were created. Education empowers us to live the truth of our humanity, the truth of what makes us human. We become fully human through our liberty. Liberty is, above all, the capacity to be human, to be what we were created to be. A truly human education, therefore, is an education on how to be truly free. This is our greatest contribution to the world’s search for peace and justice.
Finally, this is why our work for peace also involves constant prayer in all its forms, including fasting and works of mercy. In fact, it is prayer that nourishes the hope from which our judgment of what is possible in this world originates. Whatever corresponds perfectly to the constitutive desires of the human heart is always a miracle, because outside of the event of grace, what we seek is not possible. Power in the world can also appear to perform miracles, and thus tempt us to put our hope in those with the greatest powers. But they are not true miracles, because they do not satisfy the constitutive desires of the heart. These are fulfilled only within the experience of the event that has given rise within us of a “different faith, a different hope, and a different love” (which, according to Augustine, defines the City of God), and which introduces into this world another logic, another way of judging what is possible.