Reason #18 Just War

So the other day Alexander and I were chatting about David and Goliath. He told me David cut his head off, I said that I didn't remember that part of the story so we looked it up and of course he was right. We then read about how he carried the head around town for a while after. Alexander asked what everyone did after that so we talked briefly about how the loser was supposed to be the others slave etc.

Anyway, he later came up to me a little troubled about fighting and how that worked with me telling him that it is wrong to hurt other people and fight. So we talked briefly (he is only 6) about how there is criteria for what fights are worth fighting and considered just.

I thought about and realized that this is somewhere that Catholic schools are really lacking. Growing up as a girl, I could never get into the wars. The violence, loss of life and blood shed was just too much for my heart to handle so I memorized, regurgitated for the test and moved on. I still don't know much about a single war. What would have been fascinating and helped me see through all the bloodshed (and I am guessing would help other sensitive children) is for the discussion to also include an analysis of whether the war was just or not. I know this might seem like a lot to ask of a teacher, but it will definitely be the way that my children are presented information about wars. The church has laid out very specific criteria for a war to be considered just and how we view the answers to the criteria can be a little gray but worth an interesting discussion and doesn't allow for the memorize and regurgitate that I think so many children view school subjects as today.