IS RELIGIOUS CONFLICT ETHICAL?
-
Ethics directs the most basic consequences
of the moral imperative “do good and avoid evil”
-
Moral moves forward to make the way easier
stating precepts to enable people to do what they have to do and avoid what
they mustn’t do.
Let’s accept this difference between ethics and moral and
apply it to the religious conflict. We could state that
- First, trying to justify violence as a way to spread the religious ideas
is unethical (lack of ethics)
-
Second, it is the religious leaders’ job to look for peace and harmony
in an active way
If we have a look at the RAE
Dictionary, we will see that the first meaning of conflict is “combat, fight,
row”. In the Oxford Dictionary the meaning: “prolonged armed struggle” comes
second place.
Well, the nearer our concept of conflict is to the Spanish definition,
that is; “combat, fight, row”, the more incompatible it is with religion. In a
strict way, the term conflict (understood as combat, fight and row) is contradictory
with religion. The term religion comes from the Latin word “re-ligare” (unite/join again) and its main task is to take man
towards God and what is more, love enemies.
The person who follows and practices a religion cannot
hate but love.
Modern people often regard the idea of a
holy war as a contradiction. Killing thousands of people and causing wholesale
destruction seems to be as far from holiness as one can get.
But religion and war have gone hand in hand
for a long time. Armies went into battle believing that God was with them,
often after prayers and sacrifices to keep God on their side. In tribal
cultures when a country lost a war they often had to change to the worship of
the winner's gods.
However involving God as part of the
campaign does not make a war a holy war - for a war to be a holy war, religion
has to be the driving force.
Holy wars usually have three elements:
·
The achievement of a
religious goal
·
Authorised by a religious
leader
·
A spiritual reward for
those who take part
Many of the wars fought in the name of
religion do conform to the just war conditions, but not all of them.
Religious causes
Francis Bacon said there were five causes
for holy war: (he wrote in a Christian context, but the categories would be
usable by any faith)
·
to spread the faith
·
to regain countries that
were once Christian, even though there are no Christians left there
·
to rescue Christians in
countries that were once Christian from 'the servitude of the infidels'
·
recover and purify
consecrated places that are presently being 'polluted and profaned'
·
avenge blasphemous acts,
or cruelties and killings of Christians (even if these took place long ago)
Only the first of these causes is
completely outside the scope of the conventional idea of a just cause. Some of
the other causes, because of the length of time that can pass since the
offending act took place are probably not just causes either.
Lawful authority
The legitimate authority for a holy war is
not the government of a state but the
Church, or the relevant organisation or person who heads the religious institution concerned.
In ancient times the authority was often
God. This would not be the case today.
Personal reward
The third condition of a holy war is a
spiritual reward for those who take part. The doctrine of the just war does not
refer to any personal rewards for the participants - and such rewards would be
against such a generally austere doctrine.
History
The first holy war was probably in October
312 CE when the Roman emperor Constantine saw a vision of the cross in the sky
with this inscription "in hoc signo vinces" (in this sign you will
win).Constantine trusted the vision and had the cross inscribed on his
soldiers' armor. Even though his forces were outnumbered, he won the battle
against an army that was using pagan enchantment. (Historians regard this as a
turning point in Christianity's fortune.)The great series of western holy wars
were the Crusades, which lasted from 1095 until 1291 CE. The aim was to capture
the sacred places in the Holy Land from the Muslims who lived there, so it was
intended as a war to right wrongs done against Christianity.
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