“When human rights atrocities happen anywhere, states have a right – and a duty – to do something about it. Adopted globally in 2005, the “Responsibility to Protect”, or R2P, is an international agreement to stop genocide, ethnic cleansing, and other crimes. So why do they keep happening?”
What is role does ethics play in politics and in stopping atrocities around the world?
This article looks at global violence from the perspective of politics and ethics. But are these sufficient to stem the tide of violence? To protect the innocent? When I hear discussions of the “responsibility to protect (R2P)” or of “just war theory” that fail to consider actual humans and human nature, I find the discussions dissatisfactory. Whether you believe humans are good or bad at our roots, we have plenty of historical evidence to conclude that enough of us are willing to choose violence that we have to take actual behavior into consideration and often behavior stems from religious convictions, or is associated with them in some way.
It is all fine and good for the UN or certain countries to sign on to a just war theory or a R2P but how can they presume to implement this? And how can they presume that they are above broken human nature? And why not include those who would be most impacted by violence in the decisions of whether or not to take action, rather than those sitting in ivory towers calling the shots?
I just finished a book called Interfaith Just Peacemaking: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Perspectives on the New Paradigm of Peace and War (which was helpful, interesting, and didn’t resolve the conundrums). It looks at the work that could be done before going to war, the work that reinforces R2P. But religion often plays a hand in violence, instigating rather than ending it. Or, being manipulated to appear that this is the case.
So what is the role of religion in ethics, politics, and violence? Is there a role for it, in a pluralist world? Which religious values prevail? How do we separate religious values from cultural ones?
On this podcast people of faith wrestle with the question of “just” war in real life, not as diplomats or politicians or soldiers. I appreciated their perspectives:
The Violence of Love, part 6: Listener Questions by The Ploughcast
What is the role of religion along with ethics and politics in addressing violence?
I don’t have any answers for these things and the more I read, the more complicated it all becomes. But maybe there is value in simply discussing it and then a few go out and focus on peace building. Maybe?