![\"\"](\"https:\/\/paxchristiusa1.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/05\/predator.jpg\" "\\"drone")
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Well, I suppose I should start by disclaimering that I am not a canon lawyer, and this is not Official Catholic Advice. \u00a0But, hey, at least the issue I\u2019m going to talk about is non-partisan. \u00a0And that\u2019s the worse part; as the last\u00a0foreign\u00a0policy debate showed, callousness to human life, provided it\u2019s that of the enemy (or people living in the same country as the enemy), isn\u2019t even a campaign issue, it\u2019s the new status quo.<\/p>\n
During the\u00a0debate, both Obama and Romney made proud reference to the \u201ccrippling sanctions\u201d they supported imposing on Iran. \u00a0Crippling<\/em> is an awfully strong word, and it\u2019s proper object there isn\u2019t really the abstract idea of\u00a0Iran<\/em>. \u00a0But it would be pretty surprising to hear either candidate rephrase their position as:<\/p>\n \u201cI plan to inflict crippling sanctions on everyday Iranians. \u00a0We\u2019re looking to collapse their economy so that they end up in a much worse place than we\u2019ve been during this awful recession. \u00a0We\u2019re hoping that mothers will be skipping meals to make sure their kids can eat, that doctors will have to tell their patients that rolling blackouts may abruptly take them off life support, because the generators are being strained to the limit. \u00a0We\u2019re hoping that this grinding misery will leave Iranians in despair and that they\u2019ll turn the force of their desolation of the government that did this to them. \u00a0By which we obviously mean\u00a0their\u00a0own.\u201d<\/p>\n I don\u2019t want to talk consequentialist tactics here or ticking timebomb scenarios. \u00a0Whether or not you support sanctions, we have a duty to talk about them without\u00a0euphemisms.\u00a0 Our politicians should face up to the enormity of the violence they plan to inflict on others, not puff themselves up by telling us how strong<\/em> they are, how able and happy they are to make other people destitute or dead.<\/p>\n A more appropriate attitude might be that of a child who has to put down her rabid dog. \u00a0It\u2019s an awful act. \u00a0It might be the least bad option, but the fact that it occurs at all means that something\u2019s gone profoundly wrong for the dog and is about to for the child. \u00a0There\u2019s something in of betrayal; the child\u00a0ought<\/em> to be comforting a sick pet in the order of things; just as we ought to be trying to heal and love any other human we come across. \u00a0If we don\u2019t label these actions as warped and unnatural when we perform them out of necessity, we might forget the enormity of our transgression. \u00a0And, if we do faithfully name them as they are, we might find that fewer of them seem all that necessary.<\/p>\n I led with the Iranian sanctions, because they stood out to me in the debate, probably because they actually got the adjective they deserved, instead of being entirely swaddled in rhetoric. \u00a0Of course, the more canonical example for both parties disregard for life is the drone war and the kill list<\/a>. \u00a0These policies have been expanded under Obama and Romney has raised nary a peep in objection.<\/p>\n Again, this is a policy where the United States asserts an authority to assassinate anyone the president and a few other people see as a threat (or standing in proximity to a threat \u2014 remember any militant-aged boys are classified as confirmed militants<\/a> in the casualty reports). \u00a0Citizenship and due process are easily waived.<\/p>\n In a discussion about a conscientious objector\u2019s memoir<\/a>, I made reference to Drew Gilpin Faust\u2019s This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War<\/em><\/a>, and the disgust and horror inspired by snipers<\/a> in that war. \u00a0 We are endorsing an indiscriminate, terrifying way to prosecute a war that is above all inhumane because it leaves the humans in each side of it in isolation. \u00a0Death from above robs the killer and their target of the mutual recognition and love that is their natural relationship. \u00a0It\u2019s not only murder, it\u2019s murder that fosters a lie.<\/p>\n This is an issue where the Church can speak with a prophetic voice. \u00a0Christians have no particular loyalty to the United States or Americans. \u00a0We might like the country an awful lot, see its structure and traditions as worth preserving, and we\u2019re certainly bound by duty to follow the law, pay taxes, etc for as long as we plan to retain our citizenship. \u00a0But the accident of our birth doesn\u2019t release us from our duty of charity and love toward others, from a need for recognizing the people in the gun sights as ontologically identical to us and the people we love.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n This week, as part of Election Month at Patheos, the prompt for bloggers is: What are the key issues at stake in this election for people of your tradition? Well, I suppose I should start by disclaimering that I am not a canon lawyer, and this is not Official Catholic Advice. \u00a0But, hey, at least […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[64,181,43],"class_list":["post-5588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-morality-in-practice","tag-churchstate","tag-offering-resistance","tag-sin-eatersdirty-hands"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/media.patheos.com\/Images\/PC\/Election2012Vote_bio.jpg\" "\\"ElectionMonthatPatheos\\"")
Content Director\u2019s Note<\/em><\/strong>: This post is a part of our Election Month at Patheos<\/a> feature. Patheos was designed to present the world\u2019s most compelling conversations on life\u2019s most important questions. Please join the Facebook following<\/a> for our new News and Politics Channel<\/a> \u2014 and check back throughout the month for more commentary on Election 2012. Please use hashtag #PatheosElection on Twitter.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"