Monday, May 4, 2009

Jas 4, 3-4 You ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions

(Jas 4, 3-4) You ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions
[3] You ask but do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. [4] Adulterers! Do you not know that to be a lover of the world means enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wants to be a lover of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
(CCC 2330) "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God" (Mt 5:9). (CCC 2315) The accumulation of arms strikes many as a paradoxically suitable way of deterring potential adversaries from war. They see it as the most effective means of ensuring peace among nations. This method of deterrence gives rise to strong moral reservations. The arms race does not ensure peace. Far from eliminating the causes of war, it risks aggravating them. Spending enormous sums to produce ever new types of weapons impedes efforts to aid needy populations (Cf. Paul VI, PP 53); it thwarts the development of peoples. Over-armament multiplies reasons for conflict and increases the danger of escalation. (CCC 2316) The production and the sale of arms affect the common good of nations and of the international community. Hence public authorities have the right and duty to regulate them. The short-term pursuit of private or collective interests cannot legitimate undertakings that promote violence and conflict among nations and compromise the international juridical order. (CCC 2328) The Church and human reason assert the permanent validity of the moral law during armed conflicts. Practices deliberately contrary to the law of nations and to its universal principles are crimes. (CCC 2329) "The arms race is one of the greatest curses on the human race and the harm it inflicts on the poor is more than can be endured" (GS 81 § 3).

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