1. RELIGIOUS ATTITUDES
TO WAR AND PEACE

2. CAUSES OF WAR Justice Peace Sanctity of Life
Getting what you deserve. Most people agree that everyone deserves basic things like life, freedom, and safety from harm. Injustice is when you are unfairly denied these basic rights. During the Holoaust, Jews were denied the basic rigths to freedom and life – this was unjust.
Peace
Peace is a shared state of mind that normally flows in societies which have justice. Peace is being able to enjoy basic human rights without fear. Under Taliban rule in afghanistan, women were not allowed to be educated, part of restoring peace was to allow women to access this basic human right.
Sanctity of Life
Christians believe that t ‘life’ is a gift from God. Any ‘gift’ from God is thought to be holy / sacred in some way and therefore all human life is treated as precious (and not to be mistreated).

3. WORKING FOR PEACE AN INDIVIDUAL WHO HAS WORKED FOR PEACE
ORGANISATIONS THAT
WORK FOR PEACE
Carried the children out hidden in bags, sacks and boxes
THE RED CROSS
Is a non-religious charity that helps victims of war by ensuring food and medical aid gets to those in need, finding civilians who have lost their homes somewhere to stay and ensuring prisoners of war are treated decently. It also campaigns for the removal of landmines which can maim and kill people.
Trained her dog to bark when he saw a German officer so as to drown out the noise of the hidden children
Some countries feel as though the cross and the crescent logo are too religious and so prefer the crystal logo.
Even though this is a non-religious organisation, many Christians support the Red Cross because it helps anyone, no matter who they are and this is the message in Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan.
IRENA SENDLER
Roman Catholic, Polish Social Worker who saved 2,500 Jewish children during World War 2
Was arrested and beaten by the Gestapo but refused to tell them where she had placed the Jewish children
Wrote down the names of the children and burried them in a jar so that she could reunite them with their families after the war
NATO
A MILITARY organisation that tries to keep the peace by forming pacts with other countries so that if one is attacked, it is viewed as an attack on all NATO members. The idea behind this is that it should stop people attacking each other as they would not want to have to fight all of the NATO countries at once.
UNITED NATION PEACEKEEPING TROOPS
They try to keep the peace by protecting civillians during a conflict, making sure food and medical supplies get to the people who need them and overseeing elections to make sure that they are fair

4. WHAT WOULD CHRISTIANS SAY?
HOLY WAR
WHAT IS IT?
A war that is fought for God, those who are fighting believe that God is on their side.
The conflict between Israel and Palestine has been called a ‘holy war’ as both sides believe that the disputed land has religious importance to them. The Jews believe that God promised Jacob the land and the Muslims believe it is the site of Muhammad’s ascension to Paradise. For these reasons, both sides believe that God would want them to defend their claim to the land.
The Christian Crusades from the Middle Ages are an example of a ‘holy war’, the Pope believed that God would want Christians to reclaim the Holy Land (Jerusalem etc) from the Muslims who had been living there.
Many Christian soldiers brutally murdered Muslim men, women and children in the name of God.
WHAT WOULD CHRISTIANS SAY?
AUTHORITY
In the Bible it says
BELIEF
This suggests
CONTEXT
Therefore
‘Do not kill’
It is wrong to take away life
Some Christians would not agree with the idea of a holy war because they would not think that God wanted them to kill others for Him, as this would be breaking the rules that He himself gave them.
‘Blessed are the peacemakers’
It is good to do things that bring about peace
Some Christians would agree with a holy war if it were to protect them in practicing their faith as this would seen to be protecting peace; peace is considered to be the freedom to exercise basic human rights and the right to belong to a religion is one of these.
A Christian might go to war to defend their religious beliefs, their country or to protect a weaker group or country from attack.
A Christian’s motives will always be about bringing peace in the long run.

5. WHAT WOULD CHRISTIANS SAY?
JUST WAR
WHAT IS IT?
A theory that attempts to justify and limit war.
Mainly accredited to St Thomas Aquinas, a Christian philosopher.
Many people would describe Britain’s involvement in World War 2 as a ‘Just War’ as
we were defending Poland (cause),
we had tried other methods of resolution first (resort),
it was declared by the Prime Minister (authority),
we only used as much force as we needed to (proportionality)
and we did it stop Hilter taking over Europe (peace).
WHAT WOULD CHRISTIANS SAY?
AUTHORITY
In the Bible it says
BELIEF
This suggests
CONTEXT
Therefore
‘Do not kill’
It is wrong to take away life
Some Christians would not agree with the Just War theory because it only tries to restrict killing, it does not seek to stop it altogether
‘Blessed are the peacemakers’
It is good to do things that bring about peace
Some Christians would agree with the Just War theory because it only allows violence as a last resort and if it is to bring about peace
People remain undecided on whether all the criteria need to be met for a war to be considered ‘Just’, it may be appropriate in certain cases to allow some to be missed out.

6. WHAT WOULD CHRISTIANS SAY?
WHAT IS IT?
The idea that all violence is wrong. As war involves violence, this therefore means that war is wrong too.
PACIFISM
QUAKERS
A group of Christians that believe strongly in the idea that every person has the inner light of God inside them (‘The body is a temple of the holy spirit’). They are pacifists as they believe that to hurt another person, would be to hurt God.
Quakers have set up a pressure group called ‘Turning the Tide’ which campaigns for peaceful prevention and resolution of armed conflicts. They also work to improve human rights and the issues that lead to war in the first place – they hope that by sorting out these problems, there won’t be a need to use violence.
BERT BROCKLESBY
A Christian who believed that we should live our lives as Jesus would have done. He said that he could not imagine Jesus fighting and killing in a war and so believed it was wrong to do so. He also strongly believed in the Commandment ‘Do not kill’.
Some pacifists during World War 1 were willing to serve in the army but not as soldiers, these men were often used as ambulance drivers, stretcher bearers and nurses
IS IT A GOOD IDEA?
WHAT WOULD CHRISTIANS SAY?
YES NO
If everyone followed pacifism, there would be no violence or killing
Values and respects all human life
Somethings are worth fighting for and violence can sometimes be the only way to protect peace in the long run
If all the Allied forced had refused to fight against Hitler, he would have won the war and the consequences would have been disasterous
AUTHORITY
In the Bible it says
BELIEF
This suggests
CONTEXT
Therefore
‘Do not kill’
It is wrong to take away life
Some Christians would support pacifism because it means that people are not putting themselves in the position of having to kill another person.
‘Blessed are the peacemakers’
It is good to do things that bring about peace
Some Christians would not support pacifism as they believe that sometimes violence is necessary to stop evil.

7. WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION WHAT WOULD CHRISTIANS SAY?
What would these
people/groups
say about WMD?
Hiroshima survivor
AUTHORITY
In the Bible it says
BELIEF
This suggests
CONTEXT
Therefore
‘Do not kill’
It is wrong to take away life
Christians would not approve of using nuclear weapons as they can kill thousands of people in one go.
‘Blessed are the peacemakers’
That it is good to do things that bring about peace
Christians might support having nuclear weapons as they put countries off attacking each other which maintains peace.
Christians would only consider using them as a last resort to stop a greater loss of life and harm to the environment.
AGAINST – they harm and kill innocent civillians
American Soldier from 1945
FOR – they can be used to end a war quickly and prevent loss of life in the future
AGAINST – they can destroy and contaminate the environment for decades
David Cameron
AGAINST – they can cause serious birth defects for generations, babies in Hiroshima are still being born with serious defects
FOR – having them will put other coutnries off attacking us, if we get rid of ours we will be an easy target for attack
KEY TERMS
Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)
Proliferation
Nuclear Weapons
Chemical Weapons
Biological Weapons
A weapon that can kill many people in one go. Many also severely damage the environment
To spread and become more numerous, eg more countries getting more weapons
Work by nuclear reaction, the radioactive fallout often kills more people than the original explosion
Gases that cause choking, burning, paralysis and death. They were banned by Britain and Germany in World War 1 but some countries still use them
Weapons that spread bacteria and viruses. They were banned by the Geneva Convention but many countries continue to develop them

8. TERRORISM AND FREEDOM FIGHTING
TERRORIST
Someone who uses or threaten to use violence to bring about change through causing fear.
CAN IT EVER BE JUSTIFIED?
It is never alright to hurt and kill the innocent
When fighting against a bigger evil enemy, it can be the only way to bring change
IS THERE A
DIFFERENCE?
FREEDOM FIGHTER
Someone who stands up against evil to protect the rights of either themselves or others
YES NO
A freedom fighter is only using violence to put right something that it already wrong
Both ‘groups’ are using violence to get what they want
WHAT WOULD CHRISTIANS SAY?
AUTHORITY
In the Bible it says
BELIEF
This suggests
CONTEXT
Therefore
‘Do not kill’
It is wrong to take away life
Terrorism is wrong because it often involves killing innocent people to cause fear
‘Blessed are the peacemakers’
That it is good to do things that bring about peace
Terrorism could perhaps be justified as a last resort to stop evil from happening and to bring peace in the long run
NELSON MANDELA
FREEDOM FIGHTER
Had tried peaceful methods but they did not work
Was standing up against an evil system that was taking away people’s human rights
TERRORIST
Used violence to get what he wanted
Responsible for the injury and death of hundreds of innocent people

9. ADDITIONAL TEACHINGS
Fighting in a war is wrong because it involves killing others which in turn kills the bit of God inside them
Pacifism is good because it means that people will not be put in the position where they have to kill others and in turn the bit of God inside them
Pacifism could be considered ineffective as sometimes it is necessary to use violence to defend something important
Fighting in a war could be acceptable as a last resort because things that are important, such as human rights should be defended
‘The body is a temple of the holy spirit’
This suggests that everyone has a bit of God inside them.
Therefore…
‘Jesus drives the traders out of the temple’
This suggests that if something is important, it should be defended.
Therefore…
Terrorism is wrong because it can involve killing innocent people which in turn kills the bits of God inside them
Weapons of Mass Destruction are wrong because they can kill thousands of people in one go which in turn kills the bits of God inside them
Terrorism could be acceptable as a very last resort because things that are important, eg human rights, should be defended
Weapons of Mass Destruction could be acceptable as a very last resort because things that are important, eg human rights, should be defended
Fighting in a war is wrong because fighting will only lead to more fighting and the original problem will never be resolved
Pacifism is good because it will not lead to further violence in retaliation
IN SUMMARY
Christians are against war because of the loss of life and destruction it causes.
Some Christians are prepared to accept war as a ‘necessary evil’ to restore peace in the long run.
Other Christians believe it is never alright to kill another person, regardless of the situation.
‘Put your sword back in its place, for all who draw the sword, will die by the sword’
This suggests that violence will only lead to more violence.
Therefore…
Terrorism is wrong because it will lead to more violent acts being committed and ultimately, more innocent people being killed
Weapons of Mass Destruction are wrong because they can lead to people using them in retalliation, a nuclear war could destroy the planet