Religion In Civil War

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“[A] woman's acknowledgment of her grief exhibits the kind of emotional strength and maturity necessary to deal with the profound pain that erupts when a loved one is killed by war.”1 Mary did acknowledge her grief during the process of writing in her letter, “I manage my feeling.”2 She was cable of having emotion strength and maturity to handle her grief in the face of sudden loss. Her letter reveals the unpredictability, and unfairness of war, that is so many times forgotten. Stephan died for no other reason than he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Mary knew that she has to control her emotions because she has a family to raise amidst the fighting of the war. Her grief reveals the important of religion as a comfort in the event of sudden unexplainable loss that was typical of the American Civil War. …show more content…

It the wake of the death, and destruction there was comfort from religion. Mary wrote in her letter about justice from God, and stated: “And I hope and pray to the merciful God the he will give each one that helped to hang that poor cripple of a boy his just reward.”3 Mary believes, that through God justice will be brought to those who wrongfully, in cold blood killed Stephan. This idea of the justice of God is a theme with in Christianity. Neil Elliot writes: “The dikaiosyne tou theou is God's justice; “the phrase speaks of the God who brings back the fallen world into the sphere of his legitimate claim”4. Mary believes in this phase, she understands that God punishes people who fallen from God's path. This is a comfort to Mary in her grief to know that if the law does not bring punishment to those who killed Stephan, then God will punish the men. Constantly, throughout the war religion was a comfort in during grief, and other

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