[AnalogReigns]

"Just War" doctrine, was developed by Christian scholars some 2000 years after God commanded Joshua to annihilate Israel's enemies. If I understand you, you're accusing God of not following a standard developed by academics for Christians to follow. I have no doubt that those scholars, St. Augustine et als, would disagree with you, and never had laid a charge against God, of having an obligation to follow their principles.

I agree with Just War principles generally--but not being directly spelled out in the Bible, I ONLY agree generally, since they aren't inerrantly authoritative. No warring side in history has followed Just War principles--but it is something good to strive for, particularly in that we don't live in an age where God speaks directly to us or our leaders. I would be quick to add without such a direct command from God, annihilation of civilians is to be greatly avoided--one thing our new generation of micro-targetted weapons explicitly does.

Targeting of civilian population centers (cities) and other tactics used since WWII, prima facia violate Just War principles, yet, are a vital part of modern strategy in war--or its avoidance. Since God Himself didn't always follow Just War principles however, as good in theory as they sound, I must take them with a grain of salt... and our own strategies have saved countless lives.

[steve-b]

Your argument is inapplicable. Humans, having finite abilities, are often compelled to choose the lesser of two evils. God, being by definition omnipotent, is never in such a quandary.

Example: It was morally reasonable for Truman to order the dropping of nuclear bombs, given the options available to him. If he could have simply waved his hand and caused the entire Japanese death-before-surrender faction to relent or vanish into thin air, but had instead chosen drop nuclear bombs, it would have been an indefensible atrocity.