"To live is Christ, to die is gain." -St. Paul.
We live in a culture which both glorifies and demonizes violence. With one hand, it murders its own children, does violence to nature in its embrace of unnatural sterility, and seeks even to eliminate those it deems to be unworthy of life-sustaining care. With the other, it suppresses natural and healthy activities involving violence, tries to destroy the very human nature of people, (Which of course, involves healthy competition, violent pastimes and the like) and anathemizes the idea that violence can ever be justified for an ideological purpose. (Excluding of course, the revolutionary egalitarian ideology which governs society)
This is really the polar opposite of the true Catholic, humane position. For us, as the Church militant, death is not a great evil. We do not view death with the feigned horror of the revolutionary. For him, it is the end; it is the proof that his myth of an egalitarian utopia is just that, a myth. For him, without Christ as he is, he sees no good in death, since it is simply annihilation. Conversely, the Catholic sees death, not as the end, but as the beginning, not as annihilation, but as rebirth.
Consequently, we do not see violence as an absolute enemy, but rather a necessary part of the human condition. And indeed, despite what the trite saying may be, violence can sometimes be the answer. A good example of this is the Crusades, wherein, the material and physical wellbeing of Christendom was defended with force of arms. If this was justified, (Which I will take as granted, since it has been proven by far abler scholars than I) then how can we fail to admit to the justification of the use of force in certain other fields? I speak here of the spiritual wellbeing of Christendom. For, as Our Lord said: “fear ye not them that kill the body, and are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him that can destroy both soul and body in hell.” Reading into history, we can see many examples of this: the Inquisition, the Albigensian wars, incidents such as the execution of Peter of Bruis, at the hands of indignant peasants.
When we consider the infinitely greater value of the soul, than either property or even our own earthly lives, it becomes clear why, in the past, such stringent measures had to be taken. And indeed, such things are not limited to the obscurity of time. Verily, we may one day be called upon to take up arms, for the material, or greater still, the spiritual welfare of Christendom, and the holy Church. I will close with a quote from Becket: "The Kingdom of God must be defended like any other Kingdom." Although not complete, since as the Church Militant, we have spiritual weapons at our disposal more powerful than any army, it serves as a fine conclusion.
