US theologian Prof. Massimo Faggioli, who has recently been appointed professor at Trinity College, has warned against Donald Trump’s use of religious language and how it “trivialises wars as divine missions.”
“With the religious language that is being used, the relevant doctrine of war is no longer the classic ‘just war’, but that of a ‘holy war’,” Prof. Faggioli told the Catholic News Agency (KNA) on Tuesday.
For the professor, this shift towards theology to justify wars is a threat to the international order. While the classical doctrine of just war in the nuclear age sets clear moral standards, this containment is lacking in the concept of a holy war. Instead, “God is on our side.”
This way of thinking lends additional ideological fuel to conflicts such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine or the Middle East conflict. With his warning, Prof. Faggioli is referring in particular to Mr Trump’s address to the nation last weekend, in which the US President underpinned the bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities with numerous religious allusions.
Theology discusses war and peace under the heading of ‘just war’. According to this, war is only permitted under strict conditions: it must serve defence, all other means must be exhausted, there must be a prospect of success, and the damage must not be greater than the evil to be averted. These ideas go back to ancient philosophers and the first Christians.
