Mr. Shea,
The picture of the beheading is taken from a video which was widely posted on the internet.
I watched it and as a Catholic wanted every one of the jihadists themselves tortured before sending them to their eternal reward. Many of my leftist friends refused to watch the video. I suspect because their sensibilities and political beliefs would be altered by watching something “non-leftist.” I also know that leftists only believe in something until they themselves are threatened. Then they want someone else to save them.
I don't know how Christ would want us to respond to the horror of modern Muslim warfare. I do know that the world is doing battle with a belief system, not a country, which very aggressively wants the world at its feet.
John Schmeidler
John:
The Church gives us some clear guidelines for approaching this thorny problem in its Just War doctrine. I am no pacifist, and I recognize we are dealing with evil people who, in all likelihood, need killing in order to be stopped. My article is not a plea for pacifism. It is a plea that we not become the Enemy in order to defeat the Enemy. Catholics who seek to justify the deliberate murder of innocent people for a Higher Cause are, frankly, enemies of God just like the people that beheaded Paul Johnson.
That doesn't mean we can't fight terrorists and kill them when necessary. It simply means that murdering innocent Muslims in retaliation for the murder of innocent Americans is evil and will send a person to a richly deserved Hell. Indeed, if Jesus is to be believed, even desiring it in your heart may write that ticket to Hell for us.
Mark Shea
Senior Content Editor
Catholic Exchange
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