Land said Jesus made clear individuals are not to seek private retribution for wrongs done against them. "Romans 13 tells us God ordained the civil magistrate to punish evildoers and reward those who do right and that the state bears not the sword in vain," he said, noting the Greek word the apostle Paul used for sword in this instance was the lethal instrument used to decapitate those found guilty of capital crimes.
"We do not have the right to take the law into our own hands. Only the government is authorized to use lethal force," said Land, explaining the foundation of just war theory.
"Sometimes war is necessary; sometimes war is permissible under certain criteria," he continued, noting the theory requires a "just cause" be in place. "Only defensive war is defensible," he said.
Lethal military action must have a just intent; the motive must not be revenge, conquest or economic benefit, Land said. And such action must be a last resort, he said, noting that Saddam Hussein has had 11 years to comply with U.N. sanctions and resolutions.
The issue of legitimate authority was settled when Congress gave Bush authority to use force against Hussein, Land added.
"The United Nations Security Council is not the legitimate authority for the use of American military power," Land said, disagreeing with those who argue that America should wait until a U.N. green light for military action against the Iraqi government.
"The legitimate authority for the exercise of American military forces is Congress," Land said. "I am not willing to give veto power over America's security interest to France, Russia and China -- members of the U.N.'s Security Council."
Among the opponents of Land's view on military action against Iraq is Jim Winkler, identified as a "leading ethicist for the United Methodist Church" in an Oct. 11 Wall Street Journal editorial titled, "The War of Theology."
In reference to Land's assertion that Bush's policies on war with Iraq are just, Winkler called Southern Baptists a "war church." Winkler told The Journal that the Iraqi situation was far from being a last resort and, if there is such a thing as war ever being justified, it wasn't in this case.
Land's stance on the war apparently pushed Winkler to question Southern Baptists' faith in Jesus Christ, saying, "I don't know whether they [SBC] are a Christian body at all."
"We are not a war church," Land responded, "but Southern Baptists do believe in just war theory. The vast majority of Southern Baptists believe the president's policies meet the criteria for just war."
Land questioned Winkler's basis for speculating about Southern Baptists' beliefs.
"If I were a Methodist working in Methodist Church House in Washington, D.C., in the first decade of the 21st century, I would hesitate before calling anyone's orthodoxy into question," he said. "Just what do modern Methodists believe? Any attempt to sort through the beliefs of modern-day Methodism is like trying to nail Jello to a tree," he concluded.
