This unit asks a number of important ethical questions:
Does the end justify the means?
Put another way, is it okay to do a bad thing because the consequences are good? Joe Fletcher famously said "If the end doesn't justify the means, what does?" He believed that Jesus' command, to love your neighbour as yourself, means that you sometimes need to break the rules, as Jesus did when he healed people on the Sabbath. Fletcher's ethical theory is known as Situation Ethics - there are no rules that we should always follow, but instead should do the most loving thing in every situation. He may well have supported Liberation Theologists who sometimes support violent revolution to overthrow corrupt governments.
Natural Law, the main ethical theory used by Catholics, has absolute rules. This means that they don't think the end justifies the means. Put another way, whatever the outcome, a bad action is bad. St Paul said "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." (Rom. 12:21). This condemns pro-life supporters who violently attack abortion clinics.
Does violence work?
Some people are commited to non-violence because, as explained above, they think violent actions are in principle wrong. Others, however, think that violence just doesn't work. There is a lot of evidence to suggest that non-violence is far more effective. When Jesus said "Turn the other cheek", he may not simply have meant that we should always let bad people win. He may have meant that when we act in a peaceful way, particularly when we are attacked, it will make our attackers think about our point of view, and they might actually change their minds.
