The inappropriate justification of war and the impact that technology has had in significantly increasing the tendency for military conflicts were just a few of the topics of a lecture given by associate political science professor Mark Peceny Friday.
The lecture, "Church and State on Violence and Peace," was the last of a three-part forum series addressing topics facing society, said Bob Keller, the center's priest.
"We felt this topic was important for this forum because of the recent wars in Iraq and on terrorism," Keller said. "We hope it will help answer some questions the University community might have about the recent occurrences in our world."
Peceny began by questioning the ability to justify any war, using the United States and other countries as examples of nations that consistently search for reasons to justify conflict.
Peceny said there were very few occurrences that could justify military actions.
"A just cause to intervene in a situation and consider war would be a humanitarian cause, such as genocide," Peceny said.
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He said technology, while needed and welcomed in many aspects of society, has become a crutch for governments to justify their hostile actions.
"Changes in technology help make a war easier to fight," Peceny said. "Advances such as the "smart bomb" make it easier to hit a specific target and not kill as many unarmed civilians. Technology is making it easier for the leaders of countries to justify war."
Peceny went on to discuss the "preventative logic of war," the circumstances in which countries should feel compelled to intervene in violent situations in the interest of human kind.
"Protection logic should be considered when a country is already under attack and there is a need to protect its citizens," Peceny said.
"Preventative being that there is imminent threat of attack. But how can you be sure that there is a threat? Do we wait for a mushroom cloud before we retaliate?" Peceny asked.
The next forum at the Aquinas Newman Center will be on Sunday, Jan. 26, and the topic will be the different kinds of law that have prevailed throughout history.
