theme d: religion, peace, & conflict Flashcards
“if a person forgives and makes reconciliation, his reward is due from God” surah 42:40
reconciliation good
“take not life - which God has made sacred - except for just cause” Surah 17:33
life is sacred and God created it specially & with love, so you shouldn’t kill people for no reason or you are killing something holy
“the Greatest Jihad is to battle your own soul, to fight the evil within yourself” Hadith, Prophet Muhammad
the spiritual battles are more important than physical ones, and you should try to improve yourself first before judging/attacking anyone else
“and fight for the cause of God, those who fight you, but do not be aggressive, for surely God does not like the aggressors” Qur’an
only fight to defend, not to attack, and only for God
“none of you is a believer until you love for your neighbour what you love for yourself” Hadith, Prophet Muhammad
treat others how you’d like to be treated, defend those under attack & don’t be greedy in war
“blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called children of God” Matthew 5:9 - the sermon on the mount
you should try to make peace, God loves peace over violence
“proclaim this among the nations, Prepare for War! Rouse the warriors, let all the fighting men draw near and attack. Turn your plough shares into swords & your pruning hooks into spears.” Joel 3:9-11
be prepared to fight & drop everything to do so
“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” john 15:13
you should sacrifice yourselves for others/the greater good, should be willing to die for what is right
“blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle” psalm 144:1
if somebody trains you for fighting, aren’t they permitting it by helping you prepare?
“the Lord tests the righteousness but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence” psalm 11:5
the Lord hates any kind of violence or violent people, so although the Lord with test you and you will struggle in life, you should not turn to violence
“but i tell you, do not resist an evil person. if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.” Matthew 5:39
do not do violent things in retaliation, instead try to forgive & reconcile
“if there is a serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth” exodus 21:23-24
this originally intended to introduce sense of proportion into way people respond to each other - can’t be used to justify nuclear weapons/WMD
the story of the good samaritan (bible)
- shows Jesus thinks people should be kind to others regardless of if they’re similar to you - people at the time would’ve only helped others similar to them e.g. same religion/culture/etc
- priest & levite don’t help the person beaten & instead walk past - levite tribe of Judaism, elevated to be God’s favourite one
- Samaritans hated by Jews, having him do the right thing would’ve been very confronting
