‘Does might make right?’

‘Might’ must be exercised ‘rightly’ if it is not to be destructive

By Bishop Mark Beckman

My world history teacher in high school introduced me to the fascinating story of human history and was able to convey remarkable insights at times with key phrases. One of them I remember best was the simple statement, “Might makes right!”

He was quoting a centuries-old aphorism that revealed on one level a crass realism of the “way things are” and so often have been in the history of the world.

I was reminded of this aphorism recently when I heard a quote by Stephen Miller, a key adviser to the president, when he stated, “We live in a world, in the real world…that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power. These are the iron laws of the world since the beginning of time.”

During the Second Vatican Council, the Fathers of the Church invited all of us to reflect on the signs of the times and interpret them “in the light of the Gospel” (Gaudium et Spes, n. 4).

The signs of the times these days reveal a world when arguments are increasingly being made about the use of force in relationships between nations (weaker nations and peoples are subject to the might of those with greater power) without reference to “international law,” the right of determination of peoples, and an ordering of the world constrained by any principles beyond power and expediency.

These justifications are also being used in actions being taken around the globe these days. Examples of the use of force in our nation highlighted recently in the media reveal some disturbing patterns of a lack of attention to due process, legal boundaries, and respect for the life and dignity of the human person.

Does might indeed make right as my history teacher so often said?

As we examine these signs of the times in the light of the Gospel, from the vantage point of Christian revelation, we must begin with an awareness of the truth of such statements.

The use of force and power without any regard for moral boundaries is indeed a clear sign of our fallen human nature, the grave consequence of sin. It is not the way God created the human person.

Originally created to live in harmony with our Creator, with each other, and with respect for the world God has entrusted to our care, the emergence of violence is deeply portrayed in the murder of Abel by his brother Cain, a devastation that will spread in the unfolding narrative of Genesis.

St. Thomas Aquinas noted that our universe is governed by God’s eternal law, something we are able to participate in with the use of our human reason, part of the very natural law that points to the correct way we are meant to live together in this world.

That we are created by God with an inherent human dignity that demands respect for human life and the necessary rights of the person flowing from that dignity must govern the way societies operate and the way nations interact with each other.

Failure to adhere to these universal principles of the natural law always results in destructive consequences that undermine the good ordering of human society and leave devastation in their wake.

The unique contribution of Christianity makes it clear that Jesus Christ Himself, in taking on our own humanity and dying and rising from the dead, has given us the grace and power, through the gift of the Holy Spirit, to transform the use of our human power. “Might” must be exercised “rightly” if it is not to be destructive.

The laws that govern nations, the emergence of international law, and the awareness of the grave importance of universal human rights articulated so well in the 20th century must always be governed by our rational participation in God’s eternal law to be worthy of humanity. In our world today, it is more important than ever to call our attention back to the inviolable dignity of the human person, the respect for human rights, especially the life of the human person, and the just and proper ordering of society.

This must include respect for the rule of law itself, the importance of due process, and the cultivation of a society governed by respect, compassion, and a genuine and active concern for the well-being of every person. A final timely reminder from the Pastoral Constitution on Church in the Modern World (n. 27): “In our times a special obligation binds us to make ourselves the neighbor of absolutely every person, and of actively helping him when he comes across our path, whether he be an old person abandoned by all, a foreign laborer unjustly looked down upon, a refugee, a child born of an unlawful union and wrongly suffering for a sin he did not commit, or a hungry person who disturbs our conscience by recalling the voice of the Lord—‘As long as you did it for one of these, the least of my brethren, you did it for me.’ (Matthew 25:40).”