Religion+and+Peace


 * [[image:face-dove.jpg align="left" caption="Picasso's Peace" link="Peace Gallery"]]The 2U SOR Peace Gallery is now open.**

Peace Organisations
I want everyone to contribute two art works: one that represents peace in the world, and one that captures a sense of inner peace.

Click the Picasso drawing to proceed to the gallery:


 * The Peace Slideshows are here**


 * Sources of Peace** - This page is designed for the sharing of different supplementary sources for assessments.

Both Christianity and Islam acknowledge that sinfulness is a part of what it means to be human, and that the human search for meaning requires discipline to be more ‘god-like’ in our behaviour and our values. //Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. --Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969)// Unfortunately, our human frailty leads to conflicts of many types: some which bring harm to our soul and some which bring harm to our planet. Although all leaders (and individuals) would declare that peace is a goal to which they aspire, our world is a reflection of our essential need for religious wisdom in order to confront the evil of human conflict. It is important, therefore, to have a good definition of peace, so we know what we are working towards. What is wrong with each of these definitions for peace? 1. Peace is the absence of conflict

2. Peace is when people have their needs met

3. Peace is when all parties compromise on an outcome

Many people may say that Christianity is not a peaceful religion; that wars have been fought and people slaughtered in the name of Jesus. Does this mean that Chiristianity is a failure? No, it is people who have failed. A famous writer, G.K. Chesterton, said: "It is not that Christianity has failed, but it has never been really been tried." What does this mean? What is a Christian person taught about peace?
 * //(James--4: 1-3) "What causes wars, and what causes fighting among you? Is it not your passions that are at war in your own body? You desire and do not have; so you kill. And you covet and cannot obtain; so you fight and wage war. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions."// ||

//However, "as long as the danger of war persists and there is no international authority with the necessary competence and power, governments cannot be denied the right of lawful self-defense, once all peace efforts have failed."106// || The Catechism is the doctrinal authority in the Church. In it, Christians are urged to avoid war. It reads:
 * **//Avoiding war//**
 * //2307//** //The fifth commandment forbids the intentional destruction of human life. Because of the evils and injustices that accompany all war, the Church insistently urges everyone to prayer and to action so that the divine Goodness may free us from the ancient bondage of war.105//
 * //2308//** //All citizens and all governments are obliged to work for the avoidance of war.//
 * The Catechism of the Catholic Church**
 * The Catechism of the Catholic Church**

What tests should be applied to judge if a war is just? If you were the boss of the world, what conditions would need to be satisfied before one nation could attack another nation? Think of four: 1. 2. 3. 4. For a Christian, the answer to any war could be to **//"turn the other cheek"...//**To Peter, and to you and me, Jesus said: **//"Put your sword back in its place",//** because Jesus will bring the sword, Jesus will take care of you, because **//“vengeance is mine,”//** says the Lord (Mat.5:39, 26:52, Rom.12:19). However, indeed there have been hundreds of wars made by Christians against Christians and against non-Christians... I am sure you are thinking about Ireland, Afghanistan, Iraq, the Crusades... the wars of France, Italy, Spain, Germany, England, USA, even Australia... all Christian countries, and dozens more... 2309 The strict conditions for //legitimate defense by military force// require rigorous consideration. The gravity of such a decision makes it subject to rigorous conditions of moral legitimacy. At one and the same time: - the damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave, and certain; - - all other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective; - - there must be serious prospects of success; - - the use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated. The power of modem means of destruction weighs very heavily in evaluating this condition.
 * Jesus changed the whole attitude on warfare:**
 * The Catholic Church says that the following criteria must be met to make a judgement that a war is just:**
 * This doctrine has become known as ‘the just war doctrine’.**

Pope John Paul II was a pacifist, an activist against war... with 137 documents against war just in the 3 months before the war of Iraq (January to March, 2003)... before the war, the Pope sent a cardinal to Washington to plead with President Bush not to attack, and another cardinal to Baghdad to press Saddam Hussein to cooperate completely with U.N. weapons inspectors.  This Sermon, called the Constitution of Christianity, contains in Mat. 5 the "Law of Christ" of Gal.6:2. In it Jesus fulfilled the Law introducing several changes in Matthew 5:17-48. One of them is about aggression, defence and war: //You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth. 'But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles//. (Mat.5:33-41). Jesus is telling us what he told Peter: //"Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him. And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword, and struck the slave of the high priest, and cut off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, **"Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.** Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?. But how then should the scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?"... "But Jesus said, "No more of this!" **And he touched his ear and healed him**." (Mat.26:50-54, Lk.22:51)...// The weapons Jesus left us are prayer and forgiveness, and love and service, trusting always in the Lord... never the sword, Jesus will bring the sword!. //17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil...// not "an eye for an eye", but "turn the other cheek", said Jesus. //19 Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: It is mine to avenge; I will repay, says the Lord. 20 On the contrary: If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head. 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.// (Rom.12:17-21). Praying forgiveness for those who crucified him, //"And Jesus said, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."// (Lk.23:34). Love and service and prayer and forgiveness were the weapons of Jesus, and love and service and prayer and forgiveness should always be the weapons of a Christian. - It started in Bethlehem, with the announcement of the angels: //Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men// (Lk.2:14, KJV). - The first words of Jesus Resurrected: //Peace be with you!... Again Jesus said, Peace be with you!// (Jn.20:19,21,27).
 * In the Sermon of the Mount**:
 * No "eye for eye"** in Christianity, **but "turn the other cheek**"... no revenge, no war... Just Love!... turn the other cheek... he steals your tunic?, give him your cloak as well... it sounds incredible... impossible to follow... it is the Law of Christ, the Prince of Peace and of joy and of love... This is Christianity!.
 * At Gethsemane:**
 * Paul in Romans:**
 * At Calvary**, the same lesson:
 * The Gospel is a Good News of Peace:**

And all of this, not only in wars between nations, but also in wars within the home, wars on our streets, wars in our culture, wars within the heart... Life is not easy. Often, we cannot choose our circumstances, but we can choose how we respond to them... If I am a Christian, I should respond as a Christian... and it is the very best way!... the best way to obtain sure victory, and to live in peace, with joy and love always... yes, it is the Christian way, to trust always in the Lord, the real faith in action... Jesus would have been a Beatles fan, especially the song “all you need is love!” Love and peace are the two recurring principles in the Gospels and the letters of the New Testament.
 * Pull out all of the references from the above article and begin a collection of peace quotes.**
 * **Quote** ||
 * **Ref** ||
 * **Implications for Christian Peace** ||

//Using this quote, and the entire resource, now write a Chrisitian definition of// //PEACE// 5. Fostering peace by overcoming evil with good requires careful reflection //on// //the common good// and on its social and political implications. When the common good is promoted at every level, peace is promoted. Can an individual find complete fulfilment without taking account of his social nature, that is, his being "with" and "for" others? The common good closely concerns him. It closely concerns every expression of his social nature: the family, groups, associations, cities, regions, states, the community of peoples and nations. //Each person, in some way, is called to work for the common good//, constantly looking out for the good of others as if it were his own. This responsibility belongs in a particular way to political authorities at every level, since they are called to create that sum of social conditions which permit and foster in human beings the integral development of their person.
 * The good of peace and the common good – Pope JohnPaul II Peace Message 2005.**