Ghosty: Any modern Catholic who advocates the decision of Truman is violating an Ecumenical Council. Period. “Gaudium et Spes” is very explicit on this matter.
Ani: Please give the date of the Truman decision and then give the date of Gaudium et Spes. You will find that the Truman decision predates G&S by a couple of decades.
Secondly – as I have already pointed out – the ability and knowledge available to Truman was by far inferior to the ability and knowledge available to Americans at the height of the Cold War. You cannot condemn someone for something over which that person has limited control and limited knowledge.
Ghosty: Say whatever you will about “tough decisions”, the fact is that modern Catholics simply can not support such a decision in good Faith.
Ani: Were the Catholics of the Truman era modern Catholics? No. Therefore your claim is equivocal. Modern Catholics cannot support a decision to indiscriminately destroy whole cities. However, Truman’s decision was not to destroy whole cities. Moreover, whole cities were not destroyed as a result of Truman’s decision. And ultimately Truman did not have the benefit of modern Catholic thought.
Ghosty: Truman may or may not be excused before God for what he chose, for whatever numerous factors, but the fact remains that the act of indiscriminate destruction of cities is a*** crime against God meriting unequivocal condemnation***.
Ani: So how many times do I have to point out the following? Your claim is a false analogy: apples and oranges.
The object of the act of nuking H&N was
not to indiscriminately destroy whole cities.
Nor was it to indiscriminately destroy civilian populations.
The object of the act of nuking H&N was
to end the war before the following winter, proximately by disabling the Japanese military machine.
Ghosty:That ruling has more weight than the Catechism, or any particular non-infallible Papal proclaimation.
Ani: Relevance to the Truman decision?
Note: Civilian deaths did factor into the Truman decision. However, collateral damage was a remote aim not a proximate aim.
Remoteness cannot change a morally licit act into a morally illicit act. Remoteness can reduce the goodness of a morally licit act, but it cannot change the nature of an act from a morally licit act into a morally illicit act.
If you had read my explanation of the application of the Principle of Double Effect and if you had responded to the points therein, you would know this.