There Has Always Been Wars and There Will Always Be Wars Essay Example for Free

There Has Always Been Wars and There Will Always Be Wars Essay When we think of war we think of torture, cruelty, suffering and hell. Indeed, there is no denying that war is terrible. The desire for war is generally caused by mans ego, which is part of the physical man, as opposed to the spiritual man. Physical man is another way of describing mans human nature. Man naturally has great tendencies to do according to his desires, and has other people act in agreement to his desires, cultures, and philosophies. As a civilization of a particular culture grows, it is a part of that civilizations nature to dominate the choices of surrounding peoples, in an attempt to bring these peoples into less than one great rule. If need be, man will wage war to forcibly bring others to the awareness of a more enlightened way of living. The only way to truly have peace is for man to ultimately strengthen his spiritual side. When living with true virtue, man is able to have patience, understanding, tolerance, love, forgiveness, gentleness, and goodness, even in the face of fear, intolerance, hate, and anger. Self-defence is necessary, but more times than not, war are waged by men who fight against the free agency of others, and men who will the dominance and manipulation of others. This stems greatly from pride and selfishness, but it can come from any attitude that is against the spirit of true virtues, those virtues which are of God. Most Christians believe that war and fighting are wrong except in the most severe cases. They base their views on Jesus’ teaching about love, ‘a new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another’ but depending on the situation, would it be our fault for self-defence? If one was to strike at our family, would you strike him/her with a weapon? When Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, his disciples wanted to defend him, yet Jesus claimed not to fight and put away the swords, ‘When Jesus’ followers saw what was going to happen, they said, ‘Lord, should we strike with our swords? ’ And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear. But Jesus answered, ‘No more of this! ’ And he touched the man’s ear and healed him. ’ In the statement it suggests that because of war in the past we should fight, it is our human nature to fight. Like other animals, humans have an instinct to survive. If this suggests to them that fighting and killing will help, then they will usually do so. Many also fight for pleasure, a rough game of excitement and competition which appeals to most of us. Yet, if we look at the whole of human history, we find that the use of physical force against other animals (including other humans) is a practically universal feature. Now that women have begun to be recruited into the front-line of armies, you might find that you yourself are killing people in a war. Yet simple aggression, or love of fighting, or desire to survive, cannot be seen as the main reason why most individuals have been caught up in warfare in the past. Most wars for many centuries have involved unwilling soldiers. The politicians and generals decide for the troops, through fear, need, loyalty or hope for treasure, apply themselves to capturing or killing the enemy. Clearly wars would not happen if humans were actively planned against the use of all physical violence. On the other hand, no animal would survive for long in this competitive world if they were so planned. Muslim attitudes to war and peace are based on the teachings of the Qur’an. One idea in Muslim that relate to war is Jihad. Jihad is the word used to describe personal struggle of each Muslim against evil as they try to follow the way of Allah. There are two types of Jihad: greater Jihad and lesser Jihad. Greater Jihad is the personal struggle to obey Allah, spiritual struggle lasting a lifetime, winning the struggle gets you to Paradise. Lesser Jihad is the struggle to make the world a better place, against poverty and injustice, and involves defending against enemies only in self defence. When the Prophet Muhammad was asked which people fought in the name of Allah, he said: The person who struggles so that Allah’s word is supreme is the one serving Allah’s cause. The idea of Jihad is often misread by non-Muslims who then see Islam as not being a pacifist religion. Another idea in Muslim that relate to war is Harb al-Muqadis, which is Holy War. Muslims are allowed to fight in self-defence, however they are forbidden to begin in a fight. Therefore, the aim of fighting is to create a circumstance where Muslims are free to worship Allah and live in peace. One aim of Holy War may be to create equality where people are free to live their lives without beliefs and politics being forced on them. There must be no hatred or vengeance in the fighting. As soon as peace is offered, fighting must stop. Once peace has been re-established the differences between people must be resolved. â€Å"Hate your enemy mildly; he may become your friend one day† suggests that we shouldn’t hate our enemies so much as they could help us in life-saving situations. People never know that sometimes your worst enemy can be your friend. We should put aside our differences are combine our thoughts and feelings, and resolve an understanding. On the other hand, even though there have been wars, should we be the ones to continue with them? Should we be the ones who strike our swords in the face of peace? Can’t we be the ones who make peace and shake hands with one and another? Even though there were wars before, there were also non-violent ones. Non-violent is showing disapproval with damaging property or causing any threat, this could be done with sit-ins, strikes, petitions, and peaceful demonstrations. In my opinion, I think that non-violent methods can work. Using a non-violent protest is taking some action to stand-up against and resist oppression, injustice or to make a difference. These people who use non-violent are called Pacifists. There are many famous pacifists: Jesus, Bishop Desmound Tutu, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King. These inspire others to fight in non-violence, therefore commit no wars. If we commit no wars, it won’t be human’s nature to fight. As Jesus should us the human qualities he had like forgiveness and mercy, we would know that violence doesn’t solve everything. If the world tried to act as the commandments teach there wouldn’t need to be war. One commandment like ‘Thou Shall Not Murder’ is one that suggests not hurting any living thing. Muslims believe to not hurt living things as foretold in the key concept of Ahimsa. Ahimsa means trying to fight injustice and evil but without using any physical force. It is the key concept that prevents a Muslim from causing harm to any creature, and therefore, many Muslims avoid violence aside from most severe cases. Christians believe Jesus taught that people should not seek revenge when wronged – they should ‘turn the other cheek’. But this doesn’t mean being submissive victim – just that we should base our response on the principles of love and forgiveness. For example, most Christians don’t believe that if someone commits a crime, we should do nothing. They believe punishment can be more constructive. Punishment can be used to reform an offender and to deter others from offending, as well as for retribution. ‘Love your neighbour as yourself. When we love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, we grow to recognize that everyone is part of His creation. If we love the Lord God with all our heart, soul and mind, loving our neighbour is the natural result. Love thy neighbour is not as hard as it looks on the surface. It simply means respecting others and regarding their needs and desires as highly as we regard our own. Keeping this commandment, however, is likely to require the supernatural assistance only God, through Christ, can provide. How can we learn to love the guy next door with the barking dog, especially when we dont even like him? Perhaps the secret is to recognize that our neighbour, whether its the guy next door, or the cashier at the local supermarket, is someone as worthy of Gods love as you or I. Its human nature to follow those we admire most, so in getting to know Christ, well discover a God worthy of our whole-hearted love, and our neighbour will see that love in us. In conclusion, I think that it is not our human nature to fight, and even though there were wars in the past it is not our responsibility to continue with them. Many inspiring people taught us to love and not hate, and to speak out with non-violence. These inspiring people like Jesus, gives us teachings and quotes for us to base our lives on. Teachings like not to seek revenge when wronged, teaches us that we should forgive and forget, and not remain bitter. If the world tried to act as the commandments teach there wouldn’t need to be war. So, love thy neighbour as he or she may be your friend or save your life. And we should renew friendships and rebuild relationships, and make up after quarrels, and work together again.