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“The reason for going to war must be a desire to help” for example- to free the Jews from the gas chambers of Occupied Europe.
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“War must be a last resort, when every other method has failed”. Today we have a peace council called the United Nations that deals with these sorts of issues every year. Many years ago though, people believed that war was the only answer to everything. They believed it would solve their differences, but today we are still fighting for a new world.
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“The good that is likely to come out of the war has to outweigh the damage which it will inflict upon the enemy and you”. It is quite hard to think of the effects of war – we can only look at examples in the past and try to cope with them when they are present in the society. For example, in the First World War, people didn’t expect to see trench warfare on a scale like that on the Western Front- new tactics were invented due to new technology being available to us.
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“It must be possible to win. Wars should not be fought against an opponent who is much stronger than you as you will waste valuable lives”. It is impossible to know whether you can outnumber the enemy. They can work out strategies in order to outwit the enemy, but the number of people doesn’t really matter in the modern world. The Germans outnumbered us in 1916 and 1940 but we were able to win.
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“The war must be fought fairly. The amount of force used should only be enough to succeed. There must be no unnecessary cruelty or deliberate violence.” This is the most controversial of the conditions as this has been broken at least 200 times in the last century. There has been rapes, burning and pillaging as well as an atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on the 1st and the 3rd of August 1945 which helped to summit the Japanese to defeat. This led to VJ on the 10th but also sparked outrage with the church on why they needed to use such a horrible bomb. However since the Japanese believe in suicide bombing (haki bombers) an invasion would have failed and brought more deaths than of the 2 million in those two cities.
As we can see, most of the conditions can be criticised, as they seem to be old fashioned and no real use in the Modern World. So some theologians came up with a new set of rules which accept the terms of war today but also limit its effects in the long run. War is part of our animal instincts and is in human nature and we cannot change how we are made up- can we?
- “Going to war must be in defence after an unjust attack – Christians should not be the first to declare war (broken in Gulf War)”.
- “There must be a realistic chance of success”
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“There must be some proportion between the costs of war and an agreement made after the war- the surrendering country should not be made to pay so much money that the people who live there can never recover”- for example the reparations the Germans who have had to pay ($6 billion) would have taken till the end of the 1980’s to pay off.
- “Only military targets should be attacked – not civilians”.
- “The Forces used should be for a good reason.”
These Christians who support war don’t just turn to the theologians for advice- they turn to the Bible. Some Christians believe that God supports war too and there are lots of references to this in the Old Testament.
People believe that God wants them to go and fight against evil such as terrorism. A war which is declared by him is known as a “Holy War”. An example of this is “Proclaim this amongst the nations – prepare for war… beat your ploughshares into swords and your pruning sticks into spears”- Joel 3:9-10.
It also talks about trust in God. If you believe in God and follow all his commandments, then he shall reward you – he gave the Jews the Promised Land of Canaan- “The Lord your God shall drive out those nations before you, little by little… No one will stand up against you – you shall destroy them”- Deuteronomy 7:22-24.
One of the oldest pieces of writing about war in the Bible is a song of Victory-
“The Lord is a warrior,
The Lord is his name;
Pharaoh’s chariots and his army,
He has hurried into the sea”
Exodus 15:3-4.
These further backs up the evidence that in the past many Christians believed God was on their side and would wipe out the enemy – but what happened if they were both Christian groups? For example- Germany is a Christian nation, so was God on their side during the second world war- many tend to disagree- should God support one nation or both nations?
In the New Testament, there are very few verses which share this view of war. Jesus only becomes violent once when he goes into the Temple of Solomon to find it being misused -
“He overturned the tables of money – changers and the benches of the sitting ducks”
Mark 11:15.
Some Christians might interpret this to mean that it can be sometimes right to be violent when people are doing wrong or getting hurt for no reason. Also Jesus came in regular contact with soldiers but the Bible never hints at any evidence, which suggests Jesus told them violence was wrong.
There is a story in Luke’s gospel that tells us about Jesus healing a Centurions servant. This was a solider that was well respected and was praised by Jesus for his faith, without mentioning it was wrong to be a soldier. (Luke 7: 1-10)
Another area of this would be that sometimes people fight to defend the weak and fight against an oppressive government. This is known as “Liberation Theology”. It was started in Latin America and its main followers are with the Catholic religion that believes we “must fight against oppressiveness in these places of suffering”. They believe that Christians have a duty to stand up against poverty, oppression and injustice.
Some followers of this theology have become involved in violent struggles with governments in order to defend the weak. In Columbia, Farther Camiello Torres became a fighter against the Argentines. In some of those countries it is legal to kill priests and other leaders who stand up against them. Oscar Romero, a Catholic priest was shot dead during Mass because of his support for the poor of El Salvador.
Some Christians disagree with Liberation Theology, saying that it is wrong for church priests to get involved with politics and wrong to use violence – even to defend the weak. They believe these priests join up with terrorists who are more focused on the leadership than the people.
The message of Liberation Theology has spread to all parts of the world such as South Africa which still has apartheid problems today.
Some Christians totally disagree with any form of violence. They are Pacifists and they believe in “the weapons of the spirit than those of metal ores”.
These Pacifists try to stop wars rather than letting them get out of hand. They are not passive – they put forward their beliefs for everyone to follow. Pacifists are representing most of the world’s religions- not just Christianity.
During times of War, people who object to being conscripted into the army are called “conscientious objectors”. They believe in helping people so they either join the Ambulance services and the Priests core of the Army. Some never move and in the First World War they were shunned and even put into hard labour or prison for their beliefs. The first really open “conchies” were around in the First World War. They would undergo a test to see if they were really objectors or lazy people. One famous objector was Sidney Owen in the First World War.
There is one Church who are particularly pacifists and they are “The Religious Society of Friends “or the Quakers. When they were first formed in 1660 by George Fox they decided to become pacifists and always be against war – helping people instead. They showed a document to Charles II who made it legal soon after his coronation. This is known as the Peace Testimony, which puts forward their reasons for being pacifists. Basically it says that “We all are against war, we believe it is wrong and we shall not change this view”. During both World Wars they never went into the Army but served in other areas instead. The Friends Ambulance was one company set up by the Quakers which helped saving the lives of civilians.
There are many passages in the Bible which support this view. One of the most important is found in the 10 commandments in Exodus – “Thou shall not murder”. If this is true then why have people decided to fight in wars all the time? They believe murder is where people destroy an innocent life and killing is where someone dies in battle and isn’t as serious. I don’t think God wanted us to kill anyone else due to the fact that he teaches us to respect the human spirit, which is known as the “sanctity of life”.
There is also a teaching of Jesus known as “agape” where everybody should make an effort to love one another like a brother or sister. This makes killing a sin, as you are not giving that person love.
They also talk in the Bible about a “Messiah of Peace”. –“And he will be called Wonderful Councillor… there will be no end” – Isaiah 9:6-7.
Christians believe that Jesus was the Messiah but many Jews believe they are still waiting for one.
Christians believe that he was this saviour as he always talked about peace and love – so they see him as a pacifist.
We are taught during prayer at preparatory school to “Love your neighbours and pray for those who persecute you “as people who remain peaceful will go up to heaven. Catholics believe that if you have sinned you would remain in Purgatory for a long time- people still buy their passage sin to go up to heaven.
“Blessed are the peacemakers as they are the Children of God”.
Matthew 5:9.
He also said never to “Do not repay anyone evil for evil” Romans 12:17, as this would never solve any problems. Even when the soldiers came to arrest Jesus he said “Put your sword back in its place for those who live by the sword, die by the sword” – a good teaching to remember.
“Love one another as I have loved you, so you must love one another” John 13:34.
A few more quotations along these lines are:
“If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” Matthew 5:39
“They will beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war any more”
Micah 4:3 (A contrast to Joel 3:9-10).
Christians have often had difficulty in understanding why the Old Testament is so full of violence and the New Testament preaches agape and peace. This is sometimes interpreted as people then were primitive and had little knowledge of God. Some people argue that when Jesus came he showed us how to lead out lives peacefully, by healing the old and the sick while others say God declared a war so it must be fine to fight for ourselves when he believes there are genuine evil.
The Churches have had to think about three issues on this subject of war:
- Whether it is right for a Church to encourage its members to fight for their country in times of war.
- Whether it is right for the Church to support the country if it wants to build its stores of nuclear weapons.
- Whether the Church should support people who refuse to go to war for religious reasons.
The Church of England today teaches that war is sometimes an “unfortunate necessity that we must prevent to stop evil before it wipes out the good in the world”. The Church of England and the Methodist Church both accept the right of individuals to follow their own consciences about whether or not it is right to fight in a war.
The Church of England also teaches (from the “Church and the Bomb” report in 1983) that Britain needs some kind of nuclear weapons as a deterrent, but we should all work together for “multinational disarmament” where we get rid of nuclear weapons forever.
The Catholic Church also teaches “we only must use nuclear weapons as a deterrent or after an attack”. It must never be used to attack nations or whole populations.
They do want us to pray for peace though, as we all want a more peaceful world to live in. They also encourage “Liberation Theology” to get rid of suppressive regimes before they start to murder innocent people in the modern world.
There is another church, apart from the Quakers who accept Pacifism fully. They are called Mennonites, and they are a church that grew out of the Protestant Reformation in Europe in the early 1500s.
Mennonites believe Christ's injunction to "love your enemies" prevents them from participating in any way in military action against another country.
Much of the rules of today’s modern society are continually being broken – many believe due to the freedom young people have today. It is a worrying factor that terrorism is growing favourably with the younger generation – mainly due to the deaths of family relations during the last few wars of the 20th and 21st centuries. This is leading to a high number of non- combatant deaths which worries everyone- including the international governments. The Churches have always taught that “Non combatants, wounded soldiers, and prisoners must be respected and treated humanely. Actions deliberately contrary to the law of nations and to its universal principles are crimes, as are the orders that command such actions. Blind obedience does not suffice to excuse those who carry them out. Thus the extermination of a people, nation, or ethnic minority must be condemned as a mortal sin. One is morally bound to resist orders that command genocide.”
However many of the terrorist groups claim they are fighting for freedom- not for revenge. Take for example the IRA. They always fought for freedom, although they were responsible for the deaths of thousands in the 1970’s and 1980’s. The Catholic Church called it “Liberation Theology”, and we called it murder. What view are we really meant to believe?
Many Churches have thought that non- violent protest is the answer, to bring apartheid away from the world. Martin Luther King was a pacifist and he used non-violent protest to bring racial violence and discrimination down only to a few voices in a neighbourhood without using violence.
Some of these people have taken this further to become terrorists. Many are in the Muslim World but quite a lot can be found in Britain and the United States. They are ready to destroy innocent lives to get what they want and the September 11th attacks were from a series during that year. This is why President Bush has declared a war on terrorism to flush out them all in the world today.
Overall I believe we must look at this idea of nuclear weapons. Many countries have them built really for intimidation in order to stop wars from happening. The Churches have condemned nuclear wars as an act of evil yet people believe that in this day and age everyone needs protection. Many have blamed technological advances for the increase in nuclear arms being sold on to LEDC terrorist groups. The Churches view on this matter is clear and down to the point “An insane arms race swallowed up the resources needed for the development of national economies and for assistance to the less developed nations. Scientific and technological progress, which should have contributed to man's well being, was transformed into an instrument of war: science and technology were directed to the production of ever more efficient and destructive weapons.”
So really what is the answer to the idea of getting rid of nuclear warfare?
The majority of the population feel that non- violent protest is the answer to this problem. The Church also could preach their support through sermons
“Though the monstrous power of these weapons act as a deterrent, it is to be feared that the mere continuance of nuclear tests undertaken with war in mind, will have fatal consequences for life on earth. Justice, right reason and humanity therefore, urgently demand that the arms race should cease; that the stockpiles that exist in various countries should be reduced equally…. Nuclear weapons should be banned”.
(Roman Catholic teaching, Pacem in Terris.)
Protesting to the government would bring international attention on this issue and many feel that we should get the nations of the world to destroy their nuclear weapons. Yet many of the MEDC’s are reluctant to give up their nuclear weapons as this would mean they lose their security backups if they were invaded by the enemy. The USA is one of those nations who despise nuclear warfare but continue to hold nuclear weapons.
I believe that it is up to you whether you think war is right or wrong. For some people like soldiers it is a way of life, for others it is a sin which they will be punished for in the future.
“We used to wonder where war lived – what it was that made it so vile. And now we know where it exists; that it is inside ourselves”.
