Hindu and Christian Approaches to War and Peace
As international views on peace differ, so do opinions of different religions. Every culture has its own view on peace and how to attain it. Religious ties in most cases determine these values and laws. Two such opposing views on peace would be ancient Christian views and Hindu beliefs. Christianity believes in justice and love as the central focus of peace while Hindus learn to manage their own Self and create good karma to achieve peace.
Early Christians believed that peace is a result from justice. If a commandment was broken, justice was the only solution. Kings became famous according to how just and wise they were. Feuds and trials were constantly brought before the biblical kings and they were forced to pass judgment. The modern equivalent of peace was not always attained in the early Christian times. Peace meant that justice had been carried out. Wars were fought to seek justice. The means achieved an end of peace after obtaining justice. Another kind of peace also existed in the Christian time, shalom. This type of peace means wholeness. Shalom is based on the idea that men and women are brothers and sisters under God as the Father. It involved a more positive feeling of love and kindness no experienced with justice peace. Christians view peace now as a solution to most problems and strive for it in everything they do. A Christian wishes to achieve personal peace with in their lives and with their God. Love is a very important part of Christian peace. A Christian strives to be content, satisfied, and to know total love. Christians respect and love each other in shalom peace. The kind of peace that Christians believe that Jesus brings is different. Christians now believe that everyone was made in the image of God. Because of this we should all love each other because God loves us and wishes us to be peaceful. Christians now respect and fear God because of the love they feel for human kind and for Jesus.
A Separate Peace, written by John Knowles is a flashback of the main character, Gene Forrester’s schooling at the Devon School in New England. During this flashback Gene remembers his best friend Finny, who was really athletic and outgoing. Gene and Finny’s friendship was a relationship of jealousy. Gene was jealous of Finny’s talent in athletics, and Finny was envious of Gene’s talent in school. In the end, Gene’s jealousy of Finny takes over and causes him to shake the tree branch that makes Finny fall and break his leg. The break was bad, but it was not until Finny fell down the stairs and broke his leg again, that he had to have surgery. The surgery that Finny would undergo would cause more complications and heartbreaking news for Gene. During the surgery Finny would lose his life due to some bone marrow that escaped into his blood stream and stopped his heart from beating. “As I was moving the bone some of the marrow must have escaped into his blood stream and gone directly to his heart and stopped it” (Knowles 193). Although people do not normally think about bone marrow as being a huge part of the human body, it can cause some major issues if it has to be replaced or escapes into the blood stream.
The literary analysis essay for A Separate Peace entitled Chapter 7: After the Fall notes that Gene’s brawl with Cliff Quackenbush occurs for two reasons: the first reason being that Gene was fighting to defend Finny, and the second reason being that Quackenbush is the antithesis of Finny. Cliff Quackenbush calls Gene a “maimed son-of-a-bitch”, since Gene holds a position on the team that is usually reserved for physically disabled students, and Gene reacts by hitting him in the face (Knowles, 79). At first, Gene remarks that he didn’t know why he reacted this way, then he says, “it was almost as though I were maimed. Then the realization that there was someone who was flashed over me”, referring to Finny (Knowles, 79). Quackenbush is “the adult world of punitive authority personified”, his voice mature, his convictions militaristic (Chapter, 76). Quackenbush reminds Gene of the adult world and all of the things that Finny and Devon protected him from, such as war.
In the novel, A Separate Peace by John Knowles, the protagonist, Gene Forrester “battled” within himself to find “a separate peace” and in this process directed his emotions at Phineas, his roommate. Forrester and Phineas formed the illusion of a great companionship, but there was a “silent rivalry” between them in Forrester’s mind. Self deceptions in Forrester led him to believe that Phineas was “out to get him” (Forrester). Subconsciously Forrester jounced the limb of the tree and forced Phineas to fall and break his leg. Phineas found out the truth of his “accident” with the help of Leper Lepellier and Brinker Hadley, who were friends that attended Devon High School. Gene Forrester’s conflict between his resentment of and loyalty toward Phineas’ personality and athletic abilities was resolved by the death of Phineas.
the tree causes the most fun he has had in weeks. However, the Naguamsett and
On more than one occasion, President George W. Bush has described the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, as fostering “a monumental battle of good versus evil.” In this battle, there has been no doubt in his mind (or in ours) regarding who is on the side of good and who is on the side of evil. Though some have winced at the President’s use of such absolute moral terms to portray the tragic events of that fateful day, others have applauded his courageous use of such unfashionable discourse as entirely appropriate, even suggesting that it implies the demise of the cultural scourge of postmodern moral relativism.
Does such a combination of words as "a war in the name of God" make sense? The main principles, which underlie Christianity and Islam, are those of goodness, kindness, lack of aggression and respecting certain moral laws. Christianity and Islam provide human society with a code of ethics, which totally rejects war because it is something violent, inhumane and cruel. Still, over the course of human history many wars have been justified with religion and with imposing the "right faith". Because of misunderstanding of certain parts of religion or deliberate misuse of it European and Islamic states have often used violence to fulfill their goals.
Christian’s Approach to Nuclear War A Christians approach to Nuclear is entirely based on the opinion of the person. Although in this essay I will try and generalise this and try to find reasons as to why this might be. In my view; yes, a Christians approach to nuclear war should be different to other war. Any war goes against the teachings of Pacifism, but in the world, unless you can get everyone to listen and obey these teachings, then a more practical scheme should be adopted. This then makes the basis of any war; that your enemy will not listen to reason, so war being the last resort, you commence in battle.
John Knowles writes a compelling realistic fiction about the lives of two teenage boys throughout the start of World War II in his novel A Separate Peace. Peter Yates the director of the movie plays the story out in a well organized theatrical manner. There are similarities and differences in these two works of art. However; there are also similarities.
Brenda Shoshanna once stated, “All conflict we experience in the world, is a conflict within our own selves.” This quote recognizes how much conflict influences our everyday lives and personality. The wise words were especially true for Gene, the main character in A separate peace, who let his battles with other characters and the society of his time become his own internal battles. In John Knowles’s novel, A separate peace, all the types of conflict are shown through the main character Gene.
This peace can lead to nonviolence with others. In the article, No longer Legitimating War: Christians and Just Peace, Rose Berger talks about how peace is given to everyone and if that can be done we will have peace in our world. Berger says, “Christian school of thought and set of practices for building peace at all stages of acute conflict— before, during, and after” (1). If we use peace while dealing with conflict, we will have better outcomes. The Quakers used these strategies with all aspects of life.
Every state, culture, and society in the world has some form of religion. The most popular religions in the world today are Christianity, Buddhism, and the Muslim religions. Members of every religion follow some form of philosophy or ideology that shape their thinking and behaviors. One common thing about the existing religions is the presence of a supreme being. People misinterpret existing religious ideologies serving their personal interests that at times turn out to cause war. Religious ideologies brainwash populations who end up acting violently in different deviant forms (Richardson, 518). Religions use specific ideologies to make people living in a society violent to peaceful members who may fight back in self-defense.
This paper will provide an opportunity for dialogue within a small group setting on the idea of how Christians who are to model Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, in loving our enemies, not to kill, along with the presence of defending humankind by force; more specifically, the idea of just war. This study group will meet over the course of five weeks for one and half hours each.
India is the center of a very serious problem in the world today. It’s a very diverse place with people from many different religious backgrounds, who speak many different languages and come from many different regions. They are also separated economically. Two of the country’s religious sects, Muslims and Hindus, have been in conflict for hundreds of years. Their feelings of mistrust and hatred for each other are embedded in all those years and will not leave easily. What’s most disturbing is that there seems to be no plan for reconciliation available. There are numerous reasons for this conflict.
Many Christians are pacifists and many pacifists are Christian. They believe that, as stated in Mathew 5, “happy are those who work for peace; God will call them His children”. They claim that Christ’s teachings are very clear on the matter. “Do not take revenge on someone who wrongs you”, “love your enemies”.
Wells, H.G. 1925. The Outline of History vol.3. Fourth Edition Revised. U.S.A: Review of Reviews Company