Recent content by vz71

It seems every day we get more variables to consider in this just war calculus. Today I woke up to read headlines about Trump promising to bomb Iran back into the stone age. I am sure there is an exaggeration there somewhere. But we do need to question how much bombing can we do before the...

Yes. You could. But the mode of a given punishment is not dictated by the offender. Perhaps the additional annoyance of wasting time provides incentive to not violate the rules in the future.

I do not understand how one relates to the other. Did your parents specifically raise you against the faith?

Very good questions. If we keep the 'just war' theory, then we do not wait for an invasion...assuming that the invasion to be predictable and imminent, and that diplomacy has not been successful. As to prudence. I am afraid prudence has long given way to political expediency.

It took me a while to decide to post this. But... If anyone needs prayers, he does. I had some debate with myself considering the gravity and heinous nature of his crimes. My immediate thought was that we should pray for his victims. However, prayer is not a zero sum game. One can pray for...

That is true. But could this also be likened to the various terrorist groups Iran actively supported that took action against the US? I realize that Germany acted on it's own at that time to attack US interests. But is economic and labor support such a different thing?

Exactly. This kind of opens the definition of 'just war' further. Apparently one can fight for an Ally. And it would seem it is a just cause to fight for a perceived threat to the country that may or may not actually materialize. Germany posed no immediate threat to the US. If I recall my...

If not, then WWII was not a just war for the US to be involved in.

An interesting take on the war in Iran came up the other day, and I thought it might be worth a deeper look. Is it possible that the present war in Iran qualifies as a just war under Catholic theology? Given my understanding of a just war, the conditions for just war are outlined in the...

I believe Francis Sheed may have beaten you to the punch. Check out his book. "Theology and Sanity" I do not remember if he covered your arguments specifically, but I believe he covered the gist of it.

I've never been able to gain traction with this particular one. Weirdest argument I got back was from Protestant pastor that made the claim that the world to come was simply the future. Delineating it off by pointing out that Jesus had to ascend and send the Holy Spirit...thus the world to come...

Indeed. Well beyond my expertise as well. But...it seems to me these philosophies have simply kicked the can down the road. And are also ignoring certain evidences we have to indicate a beginning to it all.

Let's see if we can revive this thread to the original topic... Point 6 lists biblical proofs... So how many are there? ' Just wondering. Specifically I was hoping to stick to the 66 books contained within the KJV. If one is going to convince someone that rejects the Catholic biblical...

One could. But they quickly run into a couple of problems. For one, everything that we can see indicates a beginning somewhere. I'm not certain it is possible to apply an argument for God to something that is not God. Yeah. But this is also the faith that keeps her attending her Pentecostal...

If I understand the question right, you are asking if it is possible to utilize the prime mover argument for God and not arrive at God? Just offhand, I would think not. Not very important for a lot of Christians. I am sure we can all relate to that one or two in our daily life that seem to have...