PEACE AND CONFLICT Flashcards
1
Q
What is the UN(United Nations)?
A
- An international body set up to promote world peace and co-operation
- Set up in 1945
- 5 permanent members (USA, UK, Russia, China, France)
- Main aim to preserve world peace and to remove causes of conflict
2
Q
Why is the U.N. important for peace?
A
- Impose sanctions on countries affecting world peace
- Authorise use of force against those threatening peace
- Send in peacekeeping force to keep opposing sides apart/enforce peace agreements
- Run an International Criminal Court to uphold international laws and prosecute war criminals
3
Q
What happened in Kosovo 1990s?
A
- Serb army began to ethnically cleanse the ethnic Kosovan Albanians who fled to neighbouring countries, e.g. Albania
- Thousands died
- U.N. became involved to create a peace treaty which, Milosevic, Serbian leader rejected
- NATO were allowed to bomb Serbian forces to drive them out of Kosovo
4
Q
How did the U.N. deal with the situation in Kosovo?
A
- Sent a peacekeeping force to keep Serb army out of Kosovo and to keep Kosovar militias out of Serb areas
- Administrations helped Kosovar politicians create democratic parties and institutions and allowed democracy to develop
- Protected Kosovan independence
- 2008, independent state, U.N. helped European Union help Kosovo to be fully independent
5
Q
How do religious organisations work for peace?
A
- Organise public debates on the horrors of war
- Public statements and protests against war, e.g. Iraq War
- Attend inter-faith conferences as religious differences are one of the main causes of war
- Work for economic justice and global recognition of human rights
6
Q
Why do wars occur?
A
- Religion - Countries fighting because of religious differences.
- Nationalism - People fighting (often inside the same country) because of issues like race or culture.
- Economics - One country wants what another one has, e.g. land or oil. For example, Russia wanting Ukraine within them and the UK and the US wanting Iraq’s oil.
- Politics - People inside the same place fighting for control of that country or fighting because they do not like the way the country is being run, e.g. the laws which are being made.
7
Q
What is Just war theory?
A
Idea associated with Thomas Aquinas that a war is just if:
- The cause of war is just or in self-defence, WW2
- Intention to restore peace
- It is a last resort, all non-violent methods of peace have failed
- Must avoid deliberately killing civilians
8
Q
Why do some Christians believe in Christian Pacifism?
A
- Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught that Christians should love their enemies. Seems impossible to love someone you are trying to destroy so Christians should not be involved in wars.
- Sermon on the Mount - turn the other cheek - Jesus.
- The fifth commandment, Ten Commandments not to kill - Christians should obey and not be involved in killing people in wars.
- Jesus stopped Peter using violence that those whom ‘draw the sword’, will ‘die by the sword’
- For the first three hundred years of Christianity, Christians refused to fight in wars. The great Christian leaders (e.g. Origen, Tertullian and Cyprian) all argued that Christians must not be involved in wars.
9
Q
Why do some Christians allow Christians to fight in wars?
A
- Teachings of main Churches, right to fight in just wars
- St Paul said to obey the Government, authorised by God
- Jesus never condemned soldiers
- Everyone agrees a police force needed to protect the innocent, army to protect innocent countries
10
Q
What are Muslim attitudes on war?
A
- No idea of pacifism or ‘turning the other cheek’
- Greater Jihad, struggle to make your society perfectly Muslim
- Less Jihad, struggle with forces outside yourself, war
- Just war
11
Q
Why do Muslims allow Muslims to fight in wars?
A
- Qur’an says to fight if attacked, word of God
- Muhammad fought in wars, great example
- Muhammad made statements to fight in just wars
- If Muslim dies in a just war, straight to heaven
12
Q
Christians are against bullying because:
A
- Christianity teaches that it is the duty of Christians to protect the weak and innocent (for example, the Parable of the Good Samaritan). Bullying is the exact opposite of this as bullies attack and exploit the weak and innocent, so bullying must be wrong.
- Christianity teaches that human beings are a creation of God made in God’s image. Bullying is mistreating God’s creation and so is wrong.
- 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.
- In a democracy, every person has human rights, including the right to be able to live free from fear. All the Christian Churches teach that Christians should protect human rights and so they should not bully anyone because bullying denies the victim’s human rights.
13
Q
Muslims are against bullying because:
A
- Islamic society is based on the rule of law and mutual respect between the members of that society. Clearly, bullies have no respect for the people they are bullying.
- Violence without a just cause is sinful, bullying sinful
- All Muslims part of Ummah, all treated equally
- Muslims protect the weak and innocent, bullying opposite.
14
Q
Why does religion cause conflicts within families?
A
- Children don’t want to be part of parents religion- Feel children may not be in the afterlife with them
- Children marry outside faith- Religion of children
- Children becoming more religious than parents- criticism of parents, undermining authority
- Disagreements over moral decisions- Catholic divorce
15
Q
What are Christian teachings on forgiveness and reconciliation?
A
- Jesus died to reconcile God and humanity
- Christianity based on concept of forgiveness, all Churches teach to forgive
- St Paul taught to live in peace with everyone, only way to live in peace is to forgive
- God forgives those who asks, Christians should do to
