Whereas an ethical critique of
war appeals to an ethical principle, typically that is against humans being
harmed, especially the innocent, a theological critique can be based on a
divine degree or on the nature of the divine in contradistinction to human
nature as anything but. That is, a distinctly theological critique of war itself
or people who wage war is typically based on some obfuscation of the divine and
human wherein the latter has sought to appropriate divine nature or attributes
to what is in Nietzsche’s famous phrase, human, all too human. Although Kant’s “kingdom
of ends” formulation of his categorial imperative looks a lot like Jesus’s
Golden Rule, for example, offending rational beings by treating them only as means
to one’s own goals is distinct from offending God by violating the divine command
of universal benevolence, or “neighbor love,” which is Jesus’s second
commandment, which is like unto the first (i.e., to love God). Having probably just
now lost, or “blown away,” just about every normal reader, I want to illustrate
my point of distinguishing the ethical from the theological by analyzing pertinent
comments made by Pope Leo, the first Midwestern (Illinois) pope, in April,
2026.
The full essay is at "Distinguishing Theology from Ethics."
