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840:347 War, Peace, and Violence in Western Religious Thought  

James T. Johnson

Fall Semester 2001: The Just War, Holy War, and Jihad Ideas James T. Johnson Department of Religion, Loree 134, DC phone 932-9637; e-mail jtj@rci.rutgers.edu Office hours: Thursday 9:00-12:00 or by appointment

Reading Material:   Did the Coalition Air Attack on Withdrawing Iraqi Forces Constitute Permissible 'Just War' Conduct? The Question of Intervention Anti-Personnel Landmines: A Just Means of War? My Lai: An American Tragedy War Crimes and Reconciliation after Conflict

COURSE OVERVIEW

All the major world religions have produced traditions of right and wrong to address the moral issues of war and peace. These traditions seek to answer such questions as whether resort to armed conflict is ever justified, and if so for what reasons (the question of justification); who has the right to initiate use of armed force and who does not (the question of authority); what means may be used and who may be targeted by such force (the question of right conduct); and the relation of a community's use of armed force to the goal of peace among communities. In the western religions, the normative influences of Judaism and Christianity are to be found in the development of just war tradition, while the corresponding normative tradition for Islamic thought centers on the idea of the jihad of the sword and its place in the statecraft of the ideal Muslim community. This course begins with a three-week examination of just war tradition in its origin and development (Part I), follows with four weeks examining the relation of religion to war in western and Islamic normative traditions (Part II), and concludes with six weeks on moral issues raised in contemporary armed conflict (Part III). Particular attention will be paid throughout to the way the traditions studied deal with the the values of peace, justice, and protection of the innocent.

At the end of the first two parts what I call a "directed paper" will be assigned (you may think of it as a take-home test). For Part III you are asked to write a brief (6-8 pages if typed, approximately 1500-2000 words) paper on one of the subjects treated in this section. This paper is due at the time the final exam is scheduled.

You are asked to buy the following books, which are on order at the University Bookstore in Ferren Mall and the Douglass-Cook Coop:
Elliott Abrams, ed., Close Calls
G. Scott Davis, ed., Religion and Justice in the War over Bosnia
James Turner Johnson, The Holy War Idea in Western and Islamic Traditions
John Kelsay, Islam and War

Other readings (marked R below) will be on reserve at Alexander Library; some readings (marked web page below) are available on the course web page, click here

I. THE JUST WAR IDEA: RELIGION, STATECRAFT, AND INTERNATIONAL LAW

T 9/4: Introduction and overview of the course

Th 9/6-T 9/11: The just war idea: origins and historical development, thematic issues, contemporary uses

Readings: Johnson, chap. 1 in Kelsay and Johnson, Just War
and Jihad (JWJ below) (R)
Langan, chap. 3 in JWJ (R)
Ramsey, The Just War, chaps. 6-7 (R)
Johnson, chap. 1 in Abrams, ed., Close Calls (CC below)
Rostow, chap. 2 in CC

Th 9/13-T 9/18: The Ideal of Peace

Readings: Weigel, Tranquillitas Ordinis, 26-32 (R, web page)
Johnson, The Quest for Peace, 127-132 (R, web page)
Hauerwas, Against the Nations, chap. 10 (R, web page)
National Conference of Catholic Bishops, The Challenge of Peace (CP below), Introduction (R)
Th 9/20: No class.

II. JUST WAR, HOLY WAR, AND JIHAD: A COMPARATIVE LOOK

T 9/25: Historical and thematic development of the jihad idea

Readings: Donner, chap. 2 in JWJ (R)
Sachedina, chap. 2 in Johnson and Kelsay, Cross, Crescent, and Sword (CCS below) (R)
Kelsay, Islam and War (IW below), chap 2

Th 9/27-T 10/2: The Question of Justification for Resort to War
Readings: Johnson, The Holy War Idea (HWI below), chap. 3
Stout, chap. 1 in CCS (R)
Little, chap. 5 in JWJ (R)
Kelsay, IW, chap. 3

Th 10/4-T 10/9: The Question of Authorization for Resort to War
Readings: Johnson, HWI, chap. 4
Johnson, Just War Tradition (JWT below), 150-65 and chap. VI
Lawrence, chap. 6 in JWJ (R)
The Neglected Duty, selections (R, web page)

Th 10/11-T 10/16: The Question of Right Conduct in War
Readings: Johnson, HWI, chap. 5
Phillips, chap. 8 in CCS (R)
Kelsay, IW, chap. 4
Directed paper assignment made 10/16

Th 10/18: Religion and the Justification of War in the Service of Statecraft
Readings: Johnson, JWT, chap. X.
Ramsey, TJW, chap. 1 (R)

III. MORAL ISSUES IN CONTEMPORARY ARMED CONFLICT

T 10/23-Th 10/25: Nuclear Weapons
Readings: Ramsey, TJW, chap 11 (R)
National Conference of Catholic Bishops, CP, Summary and Parts I-II (R)
Directed paper due 10/23.

T 10/30-T 11/6: Terrorism and Low-Intensity Conflict
Readings: Johnson, chap. VI in Coll, Ord, and Rose, eds., Legal and Moral Constraints on Low-Intensity Conflict (R)
Abrams, ed., CC, chaps. 11-13
Kelsay, IW, chap 5

Th 11/1: No class.

Th 11/86-T 11/13: Religion and the Gulf War Debate
Readings: Kelsay, IW, chap. 1
Johnson and Weigel, Just War and the Gulf War (R), Parts III, II, and I (read in this order, please) (R)
Obenhaus, "Did the Coalition Air Attack on Withdrawing Iraqi Forces Constitute Permissible 'Just War' Conduct?" (web page)

Th 11/15-T 11/20: Military Intervention: Moral Perspectives
Readings: Langan, chap. 5 in CC
Christiansen and Powers, chap. 9 in CC
Johnson, "The Question of Intervention" (Chapter 3 in Johnson, Morality and
Contemporary Warfare; web page)

Th 11/22: No class. Thanksgiving Day.

T 11/27: The Intervention in Somalia
Readings: Abrams, ed., CC, chaps. 6-8

Th 11/29-T 12/4: The Bosnian Conflict
Readings: Davis, ed., Religion and Justice in the War Over Bosnia, Introduction and chaps. 3-4

Th 12/6-T 12/11: After War Is Over

Thursday: Land mines.
Reading: Harviksen and Fixdal, "Anti-Personnel Landmines: A Just Means
of War?" (web page)

Tuesday: War crimes and war crimes trials.
Readings: Eckhardt, "My Lai: An American Tragedy" (web page)
Johnson, "War Crimes and Reconciliation after Conflict" (Chapter 6 in Johnson,
Morality and Contemporary Warfare; web page)

Final papers due period of final exam as in the Schedule of Classes: Friday, 12/21, 12-3 PM in Loree 140 or the Department of Religion office, Loree 134

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This page was revised 10/23/2001