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Argumentative essay on does religion cause war
Does religion cause war debate
Does war cause religion debate
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The Christian perspective on war varies with each denomination. While reading the various Christian views on war, I found the article God is Pro-War by Jerry Falwell to be incredibly interesting. Falwell believes there are several instances that God supports and even gives counsel to be smart in war. As I was reading his article I was stopped by a major clarification Falwell makes that weakens the Christian anti-war perspective. Which is that many Christians incorrectly use the sixth commandment to defend their opposition to war. They believe that is “Thou shalt not kill” but it is actually “Thou shalt not commit murder” (Falwell). As Falwell says “there is a difference between killing and murdering” (Falwell) and I completely agree with such
This takes us to the concept of just war. Aristotle saw just war as a means to a higher goal. You don't just fight the war to win the war there needs to be a purpose to fighting the war. He goes on to tell us how others view just war. The Romans said war was just only when conducted by the state, and only accompanied by a declaration of hostilities, meaning war had to be declared on someone. Rebellions and revolutions were not considered just wars. The Japanese did not define when war was just or proper. Early Christians rejected war; this came from the effort to be more Christ like, the Golden Rule, due unto others as you would have them do to you. Later the Christians could no longer be pacifists; they were going to have to go to war sometime after Constantine became emperor and declared Christianity as the main religion of the time.
Bellavia is writing from his first hand experiences. He exists and fights in the most unbearable conditions. He has the ability to easily shape his reader’s perception on war through his opinions and stories he chooses to apprise. Much of the diction Bellavia includes in his writing plays a huge role in controlling the way his reader feel towards certain subjects. For example in the beginning of the novel he writes, “I am a Christian, but my time in Iraq has convinced me that God doesn't want to hear from me anymore. I've done things that He can never forgive. I've done them consciously. I've made decisions I must live with for years to come. I am not a victim. In each instance, I heard my conscience call for restraint, I told it to shut the fuck up and let me handle my business. All the sins I've committed, I've done with one objective: to keep my men alive (44).” Through the use of diction many readers can easily formulate the idea that war forces men to partake in terrible actions and is all bad. He phrases his statement as if god can never forgive him for all the killing and destruction he has committed. These men have
2) The cause must be just. This is jus ad bellum because you decide if
Influence of Early Life and War on Kurt Vonnegut Jr. to Encourage a Generation Against War
BBC. "Christianity and the ethics of war." BBC - Religion. N.p., 3 Aug. 2009. Web. 14 Jan. 2012. .
September 11th, 2001. An organization denoted as terrorists by the United States, Al-Qaeda, attacked the U.S on our own soil. In his “Letter to the American People”, the leader of Al-Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden, takes a defensive stance regarding the attack, giving his justifications of why the attack on the U.S was warranted and acceptable in the terms of Just War Theory, citing examples of the Right to Self-Defense and reasons why he was justified in targeting American civilians. Just War Theory is comprised of ideas of values to determine when acts of aggression are morally justified or not, and it is primarily split into two categories, Jus Ad Bellum (Justice of War) and Jus In Bello (Justice in War) (Walzer 21). In this essay, I will be arguing against Bin Laden’s claims of the justification of Al-Qaeda’s attack, using the failure of Bin Laden’s attack to meet the requirements for a just war in terms of Jus Ad Bellum and Jus In Bello.
God is the same yesterday, is the same today and forever will be. His command for the need of capital punishment for those who murder their neighbor has not changed. What Sister Helen does not realize is that God is not gray. He gives black and white commandments and they are to be followed and not be molded into something we would rather choose to do or believe in. Murder is not taking a life in a situation of defending yourself, or a soldier in the military defending the rights God has given to us. Killing, given these examples, are praised in the Bible. We Christians, in obedience to our God, must bear and support the death penalty.
In the Republic of Gilead, a Christian theocracy exists in the place of an elected secular government. The state regulates nearly every aspect of public and private life based on biblical fundamentalism. Those who do not conform are pressed into service as "handmaids" and servants or deported to regions where pollution has reached toxic levels. Martial law has been declared as "hordes of guerrillas" jeopardize the stability of the Republic -- though the threat may be greatly exaggerated.
F. Stone: “Too many throats have been cut in God’s name through the ages, and God has enlisted in too many wars. War for sport or plunder has never been as bad as war waged because one man’s belief was theoretically ‘irreconcilable’ with another” (Albright, 2010, p.35). People use their beliefs to bring wars, and for centuries leaders used religion as a weapon to set up wars. America invaded Iraq, and the government addressed that the purpose of the war was against Weapon with Massive Destruction (WMD); however, people from Iraq might believe America fought against Iraq for the oil, since Iraq is a country with massive oil resources and America needed huge amount of oil every year. From different aspects, people see problems in different ways. People who live in America might believe they are good people who are against Iraq and terrorism. However, people in Iraq might believe that America invaded the country for revenge and oil. There is no right or wrong answer to this question because people share different interpretations of the definition of integrity. “The first is that there are people who are willing to die-and kill-for their faith” (Albright, 2010, p.37). In the first story, Albright shows the reader that if a person has faith, he or she can give up everything to uphold his or her beliefs. It is remarkable to have such strong faith, by devoting their lives to religion and beliefs. For
Does such a combination of words as "a war in the name of God" make sense? The main principles, which underlie Christianity and Islam, are those of goodness, kindness, lack of aggression and respecting certain moral laws. Christianity and Islam provide human society with a code of ethics, which totally rejects war because it is something violent, inhumane and cruel. Still, over the course of human history many wars have been justified with religion and with imposing the "right faith". Because of misunderstanding of certain parts of religion or deliberate misuse of it European and Islamic states have often used violence to fulfill their goals.
The discussion and interpretation of warfare in theology is not a new controversy. A purely Old Testament inspired interpretation would suggest that violence can be, and often is a widely accepted practice in the eyes of God. “The Book of Joshua”, is a particularly good example of the war theology found throughout the Old Testament as it is an account of the Israelites conquests at the behest of God. The God described in ”The Book of Joshua” is ruthless, absolute in his perception of peoples being ether righteous or wicked, and champions the total destruction of the Cainites. However, the New Testament paints God in a much different light. Jesus Christ, the son of God, acts in a manner that starkly contrasts the absolutes and violence of
The issue of racial discrimination defies some of God and Jesus’ commandments. Hitler attempted to commit mass genocide on all the Jewish people. The Klu Klux Klan, also known as the KKK, set out to murder all of the African Americans. As God’s 5th Commandment states, “You shall not kill,” it applies to all types of murders, being for any reason such as racial discrimination, with the prime examples being Hitler and the KKK. A person could kill a person by physical means or by mental means, as telling someone to kill themselves is classified, by law, to be attempted manslaughter. The 8th commandment explores the fact that everyone should be treated equally no matter the reason. “You ...
The death penalty is against humanity. In the Ten Commandments, the sin of murder is
The just war theory is described by Thomas Massaro in his book Living Justice as the “principle that warfare might be justified under certain conditions” (108). The complexities involved with international relations makes determining a just war very difficult. Even though historically pacifism hasn’t gained much traction within Catholic circles, it currently is gaining popularity with many mainstream Catholics. With so many differing views on military action, one might ask, “What determines a just war? How can we balance the need for peace with self-defense?” An examination of criteria for a just war and critiques written on this topic might shed light on these two questions.
Thus, there is a renowned episode with the female sinner (John 8:3 - 8:11) who was supposed to be stoned to death and saved by Christ saying “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her”. Jesus was not in fact censuring the right to kill the woman, according to the ancient law. Besides, there is evidence suggesting that this passage was not present in the original version of the Scripture and was later added by an unknown person (Religious Tolerance). Besides, the passage from Matthew 5:21-22 is supposed to condemn killing: "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment..." These words implicate a person who kills out of anger, but is hardly applicable to cases where a person is murdered through a verdict of qualified