Morality,
Religion And an Illegitimate War
By Konrad
Raiser
As we are being
prepared for a longer and probably more destructive war in Iraq than
was initially projected, voices opposed to the war grow louder, challenging
the legitimacy of the decision by the United States and Britain to use
military force to disarm Iraq and achieve a regime change there.
Victory in itself will not establish legitimacy. By acting outside a
United Nations mandate, the coalition partners deliberately took the
risk of conflict with international law, hoping that quick success would
silence those who questioned the wisdom and legitimacy of their undertaking.
But now the question is being raised anew, and it may well begin to
haunt the governments involved.
The U.S. administration seems intent on reinstating the old imperial
logic of power that "might makes right," and that the fear
of superior power, acting as a deterrent, subsumes legitimacy. But a
unilateral exercise of power is unacceptable in a highly interdependent
world. The development of international law reflects the recognition
that a viable international order can no longer be built on mere balance
of power.
The exercise of power and its legitimacy must be subjected to legal
norms and procedures. The system of international law is still fragile
and incomplete, and the instruments of law enforcement are weak. Nevertheless,
it has become an indispensable source of legitimacy, especially where
the use of force in resolving international conflict is concerned.
Having deliberately stepped outside the framework of international law,
the coalition governments are in a dilemma. They increasingly employ
moral arguments, suggesting that they are conducting a "just war,"
and appeal to patriotic sentiments about freedom. They even affirm a
"divine calling" to defend humanity against the forces of
evil. But the use of moral or religious arguments to justify political
decisions is precisely what characterizes those fundamentalist political
forces that they set out to combat in the post-Sept. 11 war on terror.
It can be disastrous to translate moral imperatives into political action
without submitting them to critical judgment as to the possible consequences
of such action. Legal norms, when rooted in the recognition of moral
values and standards, can mediate between morality and politics. They
protect the community against oppressive moral rigorism as well as against
arbitrary political decisions. Of course, the simple fact that a certain
exercise of power is within the law does not automatically establish
legitimacy. Outside or in opposition to international law, morality
cannot provide legitimacy.
An appeal to religious values is even more risky. In all cultures, divine
sanction is the ultimate source of the legitimacy of power. So government
leaders who engage in war - the most questionable form of exercising
power - wish to secure religious approval. But they run the risk of
provoking prophetic protest when their use of force violates the divine
commandment to rulers to safeguard justice and peace.
In all religions, it is the role of prophets to provide such critical
mediation between the will of God and political action. Yet the "false
prophets" on both sides of this conflict sanction the actions of
political leaders with religious arguments and seem to see this confrontation
as an inevitable clash of civilizations and religions.
It is all the more significant, therefore, that Christian churches of
all traditions have unanimously condemned the war on Iraq, and have
protested in particular against any attempt to sanction it with religion.
This has been noted with relief among those in the Muslim community
who are resisting the siren call of militant Islam. Indeed, prophetic
protest is the only legitimate religious response to this illegitimate
war.
The Reverend Konrad Raiser is general secretary of the World Council
of Churches.