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3 - Shaping the State

The US Constitution as a Christian Just War Document

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 May 2022

Mark Douglas
Affiliation:
Columbia Theological Seminary
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Summary

Perhaps due to the influence of the great man myth of history, the Constitution of the United States of America is rarely named as participating in the shaping of the just war tradition, let alone being a just war document. Yet the concerns of war and just war thinking pervade the original document and the Bill of Rights as well as and some of its later amendments and are visible not only in the story of its creation but, even more significantly, in its rhetoric. Moreover, even as it and other constitutions are the primary expression of modern legal thought, it manifests a particular way of doing just war thinking that sits uncomfortably within modern just war theory. The way it inscribes sovereignty – at both personal and national levels – while diffusing authority exacerbates the wicked problems of climate-shaped conflicts, especially those relating to nonstate actors and global inequities.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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  • Shaping the State
  • Mark Douglas
  • Book: Modernity, the Environment, and the Christian Just War Tradition
  • Online publication: 05 May 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009106610.004
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  • Shaping the State
  • Mark Douglas
  • Book: Modernity, the Environment, and the Christian Just War Tradition
  • Online publication: 05 May 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009106610.004
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Shaping the State
  • Mark Douglas
  • Book: Modernity, the Environment, and the Christian Just War Tradition
  • Online publication: 05 May 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009106610.004
Available formats
×