Where the Rubber Hits the Road

Let's see... how did that go again? "States like these and their terrorist allies constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world." (G.W. Bush: State of the Union Address, 2002) He was talking about Iraq, Iran and North Korea. We may need to remind our American neighbors that just because their national game gives every player 'three strikes' before they must 'step away from the plate' doesn't mean that they can assume that we Canadians will agree to give them another chance to come up to bat. We are a nation of hockey fans. We understand that a game can end 0-1, irrespective of whose considered the 'home team'. Most of us believe that the game has been played, and while we stand 1-0 in military terms, it was a Pyrrhic victory when we assess the real losses our team suffered in terms of 'career ending injuries and deaths.' It was like this weekend when poor, battered Vancouver won but got mugged when they played in...

George Weigel, the man that John Paul II acclaimed to be the greatest lay theologian of the 20th century, has written a great concise post on the National Review which is also posted here on the Ethics and Public Policy Center website on the proper understanding and origin of the Just War Tradition. It is MUST READ for anyone interested in the proper understanding of this essential element of Catholic theology, particularly when our western democracies are engaged in Afghanistan and Iraq. Thank you George! Clearly the late Pontiff knew what he was talking about when he spoke so glowingly of you.