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A FEW REFLECTIONS ON THE
RESCUE OF CAPTAIN PHILLIPS
Reflection #1
Returning to the Rectory after
Mass on Easter Sunday,
I checked out the latest news on the Net to see if there had
been any developments in the matter of Captain Phillips, the
gentleman who was being held hostage by the Somali pirates.
I was delighted and grateful to God to learn that he had been
rescued and was unharmed. Praise the Lord! And, while we’re
at it, let’s praise the United States Navy! Thank God for
those three Navy Seals and their consummate skill with firearms.
This sounds strange, perhaps. Why would a Catholic priest say
something so affirmative and positive about an act of violence?
An act of violence that took the lives of three human beings?
Isn’t the Catholic religion a religion of peace and tranquility?
Aren’t we supposed to just take it on the chin and be resigned
to the fact that bad people do bad things to innocent people
and just offer it all up to God and wait for Him to rescue us?
Of course not! The unfortunate
thing is that, in this effeminate age, we have been sold a bill
of goods about how Christians ought to deal with evil.
There is only one thing to
do with evil. Whenever
possible, destroy it. If unable to destroy it, endure it patiently.
And then, after having endured it patiently, look for another
opportunity to destroy it.
But, in an age of moral
ambiguity such as the
one in which we currently live, some people will quibble as to
whether anything can really be called “GOOD”
as opposed to “EVIL”. Some people prefer to say,
“Well, it all depends on how you look at it”.
If it all depends on one’s
perspective, then I guess we would have to say that, from the
perspective of the Somali pirates, it is a GOOD thing
forcibly to board ships on the high seas, steal the cargo and
keep the crew members hostage in hope of receiving ransom. Piracy
is just one way of making a living! As such, it is neither morally
good nor morally bad. It is just business! Perhaps we ought
not be judgmental about piracy! Different strokes for different
folks.
I make bold to say, however, that piracy is an EVIL
thing. Persons who practice piracy must be prevented from doing
so and persuaded to find some other line of work. Persons who
insist on being pirates and who cannot be prevented by non-violent
means from doing their dirty deeds must be prevented by violent
means. If this requires that they be killed, then so be it.
We shall pray for the happy repose of their souls, once we are
sure that they are safely dead.
Let’s not get carried
away, of course. I am
not in any way implying that violence is desirable in and of
itself. It certainly is not! On the other hand, there is a
time when violence is unavoidable — not only is unavoidable,
but is morally required.
I think about the third reading
of the Easter Vigil Mass.
It is the one Old Testament reading that, by liturgical law,
must not be omitted. It is the reading from Exodus about the
crossing of the Red Sea. The reading does not simply tell us
how God got the Israelites safely through the Red Sea. It tells
us that, once they had safely passed over, the Egyptian army
followed them in hot pursuit between the upright walls of water.
And then what happened? Read it yourself! “The Egyptians
were fleeing head on toward the sea, when the Lord hurled them
into its midst. As the water flowed back, it covered the chariots
and the charioteers of Pharaoh’s whole army which had followed
the Israelites into the sea. Not a single one of them escaped.”
(Ex 14,27b-28) Chapter 15 gives us the exultant Song of Moses:
“I will sing to the Lord, for He is gloriously triumphant;
horse and chariot He has cast into the sea!”
Why wasn’t God merciful to the Egyptians?
Why did He cause them to be drowned?
The truth is that the Lord was merciful to the Egyptians. He
allowed them to witness the miracle whereby the Israelites got
safely through the Red Sea. He gave them the chance to do a
little logic, a little syllogism, the conclusion of which would
have been: “Maybe we should just call it a day and let
the Israelites go, because it’s pretty obvious by now that
their God wants to free them. Therefore, let’s admit that
they won and we lost and, you know, you win some and you lose
some, so let’s just turn around and go back home.”
But the Egyptians were proud and obstinate and decided to push
the envelope. And, so, God just left them to their own devices
and let them drown! Way it goes! Don’t mess with God!
Let’s hope that they all said a good act of contrition
on their way down.
Reflection #2
I read the following somewhere in the commentaries that followed
up on the story:
Certainly the significance
of a leader offering himself up to evil in order to save his
group and then to escape on Easter cannot be overstated.
Unfortunately, I can’t give proper attribution for that
sentence, but I tip my biretta to whoever wrote it. It certainly
put the whole episode into a neat theological context.
Reflection #3
Here are some Moral Theology questions that might arise from
the aforementioned rescue story.
Question(s): Suppose you were one of those three Navy Seals who
were assigned to take out the three pirates who were holding
Captain Phillips hostage in the lifeboat. Suppose you are also
a practicing Catholic, who goes to Confession and Communion on
a regular basis. Would you be obliged to go to Confession in
order to be absolved of the sin of shooting the pirate in the
head? Would it have been a sin for you to shoot the pirate in
the head? If it was a sin, was it a mortal sin?
Answer(s):
No, you would not be obliged to go to Confession in order
to be absolved of the sin. No, it would not have been a sin
— neither a mortal sin nor a venial sin — for you to
shoot the pirate. The Fifth Commandment forbids unjustified
homicide. It does not forbid homicide in the case of self defense
or in the case of defense of the innocent. Such homicide should,
of course, be a last resort. I think it is clear from the circumstances
that the killing of the three Somali pirates was a last resort.
The fact that one of the pirates had an AK-47 pointed at the
back of Captain Phillips conferred upon the Navy Seals the moral
right to do what was necessary in order to save the Captain’s
life.
Reflection #4
We have a local pirate problem. I wonder
if I could persuade the USNavy to send a destroyer up the Schuylkill
to Pottsville. From there, perhaps, a helicopter to Girardville,
to drop one or more Seals onto Main Street. The element of surprise
would be important. Well, I can leave those details to my buddies
in the Pentagon.
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Saturday, 18 April
