Key wordsConflict resolution Bringing a fight / struggle to a peaceful conclusion

United Nations A international body set up to promote world peace and co-operation

World Peace Ending of war throughout the whole world

Aggression Attacking without being provoked

Exploitation Taking advantage of a weaker group

Just war A war that is fought for the right reasons and in a right way

Pacifism The belief that all disputes should be settled by peaceful means

Weapons of mass destruction

Weapons which can destroy large areas and numbers of people

Bullying Intimidating / frightening people weaker than yourself

Respect Treating a person and their feelings with consideration

Forgiveness Stopping blaming someone and pardoning them for what they have done wrong

Reconciliation Bringing together people who were opposed to each other

The United NationsThe UN was formed in 1945 after the end of WW2. The aim was to preserve world peace and to remove the causes of conflict especially in underdeveloped countries. All countries of the world can apply to member of the UN and have a vote in the general assembly which meets once a year to debate issues and to supervise the UN’s work. Why the UN is important for world peaceThe UN can recommend action to stop any threats to world peace by:

Imposing sanctions (e.g. banning trade, banning cultural links, banning communications) on countries threatening world peace

Authorising the use of force by member states to stop an aggressor

Sending a UN peacekeeping force to:o Prevent the outbreak of conflict

o Stabilise conflict situations after a ceasefire and create an environment for the parties to reach a lasting peaceful agreement

o Assist in putting peace agreements into practiceo Lead states or territories to stable government after

they have been in conflict The United Nations also tries to keep world peace by running the International Criminal Court (ICC) which ensures that international laws are upheld and prosecutes anyone committing war crimes. This includes murder, the ill treatment or deportation of civilian residents of an occupied territory to slave labour camps, the murder or ill treatment of prisoners of war, the killing of hostages, the destruction of cities, towns and villages and any devastation not justified by military necessity.

How religious organisations try to promote world peaceReligious organisations work for world peace by:

Organising meetings so that people can learn about the horrors of wars and vote for political parties working for peace.

Organising protests about war (e.g. the Iraq war) to change public opinion and government policies.

Organising and attending inter-faith conferences to help all religions work together to promote world peace.

Working for economic justice and worldwide acceptance of human rights to remove the causes of war. If the poor of the world had a decent standard of living and the governments of the world respected human rights, this may stop wars.

Why wars occur1. Religion

Wars happen because of religious differences.

If the followers of a religion are being badly treated in a country, the followers in another country might invade to help protect them. For example the Orthodox Christian Serbia invaded Kosovo because they thought that the Orthodox Christians in Kosovo were being treated badly by the Muslim majority.

The majority of a country is one religion but an area of the country is a different religion. For example India is a Hindu country but in the area of Kashmir the majority is Muslim. This has led the Muslims of Kashmir into a war to become part of Pakistan which is Muslim.

There are differences within a religion and one religious group attacks the other for having different beliefs. For example the war in Afghanistan is about the Taleban view of Islam attacking other views of Islam.

2. Nationalism and ethnicity A huge cause of wars is connected with nationalism and ethnicity:

The belief that each separate ethnic group should have its own country leads to wars such as the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka and the ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.

This can also lead to the belief that any minority ethnic groups should be removed from the country. This can lead to the wiping out of an ethnic group as happened in Rwanda 1994.

Where countries were created artificially, tensions between ethnic groups can lead to civil wars. Sudan and Kenya were created artificially by European conquerors leading to the current war in Darfur.

3. Economics Wars can occur because of arguments about resources: Some people think that Iraq was invaded because the

West wanted access to its oil reserves.

The economic crisis in Zimbabwe has led to mass migration of refugees looking for food and work into South Africa. Some South Africans have begun to attack the refugees to protect their jobs.

4. Ideological and political differences

War can sometimes occur because of differences about ideals or politics:

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo two different political groups are fighting each other for power. The UN is trying to bring peace but the conflict has become very serious.

The Korean War began in 1949 when communist North Korea invaded the capitalist South Korea. The UN sent a force to protect the South and a truce was declared in 1953 but there is still no peace.

The Theory of a Just WarSome wars can be justified. The theory used to decide whether a war is justified is known as the just war theory. Today, it is generally agreed that a war is just if:

The cause of the war is just (e.g. it is fought in self-defence)

It is being fought by the authority of the UN It is being fought to bring back peace It is begun as a last resort – all other ways of ending the

conflict have been tried and failed There is a reasonable chance of success The methods used avoid killing innocent civilians The methods used are proportional to the cause. For

example it would not be just to destroy a country with nuclear weapons because it had invaded a small island

Christian attitudes to warChristian pacifismPacifism means refusing to fight in wars. Many Christians have become pacifists because they feel that modern wars affect so many innocent people that war cannot be justified. Some pacifists refuse to be involved in any kind of violence and would not resist anyone who attacked them.

Why some Christians are pacifists: Jesus taught (in the Sermon on the Mount) that if they

are hit on the right cheek, they should turn and offer the left. This means that Christians should not fight and so cannot take part in wars.

In the Sermon Jesus taught that Christians should love their enemies. This teaching means Christians should not be involved in wars.

Jesus stopped Peter from using violence when the soldiers came to arrest him. He said that all those who draw the sword would die by the sword showing that Christians shouldn’t be involved in wars.

For the first 300 years of Christianity, Christians refused to fight in wars. Great Christian leaders all argued that Christians must not be involved in war.

So many horrible things have happened to civilians in modern wars because of the effects of weapons of mass destruction. The effects of Hiroshima and Nagasaki for example.

The attitude that Christians can fight in just wars

Some Christians realise it is not always possible to avoid war and many Christians are prepared to fight in a just war. Some Christians will fight in just wars because:

The main Churches teach that all Christians have the right to fight in wars that fulfil the criteria for just wars.

St Paul said that Christians have to obey the orders of the government because governments are authorised by God. If a government authorises a war, Christians should fight in it.

Jesus never condemned the soldiers he met and actually praised the faith of a Roman Centurion. This seems to show that Jesus accepted the right of Christians to be soldiers.

When Jesus was asked about paying taxes he said ‘Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s’

meaning it is acceptable to fight in a just war ordered by the government (Caesar).

Everyone agrees that a police force is needed to protect innocent people from criminals. In the same way an army is needed to fight in just wars to protect innocent countries from criminal ones.

Islam and attitudes to warThe Qur’an encourages all Muslims to ‘struggle in the war of Islam.’ The Arabic word for struggle is Jihad which is often translated as holy war. Muslims believe in two kinds of Jihad. The greater Jihad is the struggle to make yourself and your society perfectly Muslim and the lesser Jihad is the struggle with forces outside yourself by means of war.

Muslims believe that if a war is just then a Muslim must fight in it because:

The Qur’an says Muslims must fight if they are attacked. The Qur’an is the word of God

Muhammad is the great example of how to live their lives and he fought in wars therefore so must Muslims

Muhammad made many statements (hadiths) about war which say that Muslims must fight in just wars. Muslims must follow the teachings of Muhammad as he is the final prophet of God

The Qur’an says that anyone who dies fighting in a just war will go straight to heaven

Why Christians are against bullying:

Christians believe that violence is a sin and bullying always involves using violence.

Human beings are a creation of God and bullying is mistreating God’s creation.

It is a duty of Christians to protect the weak and the innocent. Bullying is the opposite of this because bullies attack the weak and innocent.

Jesus taught in the parable of the sheep and the goats that Christians should treat anyone in trouble as if they were Jesus. No Christian would bully Jesus and so they should not bully anyone.

Every person has human rights and one of those rights is the right to live free from fear. All Churches teach that Christians should protect human rights and so they should not bully because bullying denies the victims human rights.

Bullying has harmful effects on society. Victims of bullying cannot achieve their careers and therefore the contribution to society they are capable of.

Why Muslims are against bullying: Islamic society is based on the rule of law and mutual

respect between the members of society. Bullies have no respect for people they bully and have no understanding of their responsibilities as members of society.

Muslims believe that violence is a sin and bullying always involves using violence.

All Muslims are members of the ummah and should have equal treatment and respect.

It is a duty of Muslims to protect the weak and the innocent. Bullying is the opposite of this because bullies attack the weak and innocent.

Every person has human rights and one of those rights is the right to live free from fear. Muslims should not bully because bullying denies the victim’s human rights.

Religious conflicts within families

1.Children no longer wanting to take part in their parent’s religion

Religious parents who go regularly to a place of worship expect their children to go with them. If their children refuse when they reach their teens, this can cause major conflict because:

Religions tell parents it is their duty to bring their children up in the faith and ensure they become full members of it as adults. If the children no longer take part in the religion, their parents will be seen as failures by others

Parents will worry that their children will become immoral without the guidance of religion

Parents will worry that their children will not be with them in the afterlife because they have left the religion

Children will feel that their human right to freedom of religion is being taken away by their parents

2.Children wanting to marry a partner from a different faithIn a multi-faith society, young people of different religions are going to meet, fall in love and want to marry. This can cause many problems because:

There can be no religious wedding because the couple must be members of the same religion for a religious wedding ceremony to be allowed

There is the question of which religion the children of the marriage will be brought up in

There is also the problem of what will happen after death? Will the couple have to be buried in different places according to their religion?

For the parents and relatives of the couple there is often the feeling that they have betrayed their roots and family by falling in love with someone from a different religion

3.Children becoming more religious than their parentsOften parents are members of a religion but not very strictly. If their children become strict followers of the religion it can cause conflict, as parents get angry if their children criticise them. For example:

If the child wants to have a low paid job as a priest or charity worker after their parents have spent a lot of money, the parents will often be angry, even more so if the child will have to be celibate and so deny the parents their chance of godchildren

If the child criticises the lifestyle of parents for example Catholic parents who use contraception or Muslim parents who run off licences and sell national lottery tickets, Hindu parents who eat beef

If a child tries to force the parents to be more religious for example expecting their parents to read the Bible every day or Sikh children trying to stop their parents from drinking alcohol

4.Disagreements over moral issuesIf a family member makes a moral decision that goes against the teaching of the families religion for example:

If a Catholic or a Sikh decides to divorce so they can marry someone else

If a couple live together rather than marrying even though their religion bans sex before marriage

If a family member has an abortion even though it is against their religion

If a family member decides to write for pornographic magazines or becomes a strip tease artist

Christian teachings on forgiveness and reconciliationChristians believe in forgiveness and

reconciliation because: As humans had sinned they were

separated from God. Through the death of Jesus Gods son Jesus

allowed reconciliation between God and humans. Jesus died on the cross to bring forgiveness.

Jesus said if we do not forgive God will not forgive our sins. St Paul said that Christians should live in peace with

everyone. Christianity is based on the concept of forgiveness and

reconciliation. Churches teach that Christians should forgive when there are conflicts between families and friends.

Islam: Teachings on Forgiveness and Reconciliation Muslims believe they should be forgiving and try to bring reconciliation because:

God is compassionate and merciful to sinners On the day of judgement God will deal with everyone as

they deserve but Muslims can ask for mercy. How can Muslims ask for forgiveness if they are not prepared to forgive?

The Qur’an says that Muslims should forgive other people’s sins against them and this is the word of God.

Prophet Muhammad taught forgives and reconciliation in many hadiths. Muslims should follow the example of the Prophet.

Peace and ConflictRevision

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