A war cannot be by an individual. It must have the authority of the state.
There must be a just cause for going to war e.g. the seizing of land.
There must be a right intention e.g. to remove evil or bring peace.
War must be the last resort i.e. diplomacy must have failed.
There must be a proportionality in the way the war is fought i.e. you should only use enough force to achieve your aims and no more. Casualties must be among the military. The war must be ‘in proportion’ to the original wrong committed.
Some of these similarities show how the western world of thinking was quite similar to the Sikhs.
As I am a Sikh I would follow what my religon tells me, Sikhism says that Sikhs should believe that treaties and cease-fires must be honoured, places of worship (of any faith) should not be damaged, and soldiers who surrender should not be harmed. Sikhs also believe that if a war is just it should be undertaken even if it cannot be won. Sikhs are also expected to take military action against oppression of any person or religon. Sikhs are also expected to defend themselves, other people of any faith and their religon.
Guru Nanak wrote:
‘No one is my enemy
No one is a foreigner
With all I am at peace
God within us renders us
Incapable of hate and prejudice.’
This quote shows how Sikhism is a religon of peace.
Guru Gobind Singh also wrote that violence and war was the last resort, but emphasised that if war was the only answer it had to be done.
‘When all efforts to restore peace prove useless and no words avail,
Lawful is the flash of steel. It is right to draw the sword.’
Also in one of Guru Gobind’s prayers, peace is seen to come from God. It is a gift from God’s mercy and therefore is desired more than violence.
‘O kind father, loving father, through thy mercy we have spent our day in peace and happiness; grant that we may, according to thy will, do what is right’
But not everyone would follow this way for example pacifists would not fight at all even if it is a just war according to my religon and the western world. Because they believe they have a right not to fight. Also Muslims that would probably fight would only fight in countries that don’t have a large proportion of Muslims because they believe they have a right not to fight where they don’t want to, but are they abandoning their responsibilities?
There is a right not to fight but if you do not fight you are not taking your responsibility. For example if you decide not to fight you are not taking up your responsibility and therefore you might not be able to stop future generations from suffering. So there becomes a conflict between rights and responsibility and there cannot be a right conclusion.
I conclusion I would only fight if the war is a just war according to my religon so basically I would only fight in the right circumstances because if the war was not just according to my religon I would not fight because if I was to fight I would be disobeying my religon.
