Religion and Violence

Religion and Violence
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Most religions claim that they are nonviolent and that their teachings seek to promote peace. They claim that God wants people to be loving and live peacefully. They spell out repercussions for engaging in violence or causing violence while on the other hand they promise many rewards for the people who pursue and cultivate peace. Two of the main religions (Christianity, Islam and Buddhism) in the world have been involved in wars that are documented in their religious readings. Some wars have been between the religions and other cases between members of the same religion. On the surface their believers claim they represent peace and they preach it to their believers, however, in many instances through the readings, they advocate for violence. However, in the case of Christianity and Islam, the same cannot be said about them. Muslims and Christians have in many instances throughout their history been involved wars and other forms of violence in the name of their supreme deity. It seems paradoxical why a God who either wants violence and extermination of a person or some people would also instruct the same people to be tolerant to the views of their enemies, not to seek revenge, to pray for them etc. Conversely, why would a peaceful God who calls for his people to exercise love, tolerance, understanding and even pray for their enemies want to also inflict pain and even kill other people on their behalf or even instruct the same people to inflict pain or kill other people? It is not only Christianity; Islam also has a similar issue. Islam claims to be the religion of peace and while no one can dispute their claim, it is also paradoxical that the Quran calls for and encourages violence against other people. The Quran encourages Muslims to declare Jihad on enemies of Islam and be willing to spend themselves and their wealth for that course. The question remains, why would these two big religions not preach and remain steadfast to one set of principles in relation to enemies of their religion, their God, their communities or themselves. Why do they give conflicting guidelines on how to handle the enemies and people who are different from us or hold different set of beliefs? The overarching question is, why does the supreme deity allow and participate in wars and or help his people involved in violence while he explicitly instructs them to be peaceful, tolerant, forgiving and love their enemies?
Christianity
For Christians, the basis of their faith in the bible and it gives explicit instructions that all Christians should live in peace with one another and even show love and tolerance to non-Christians. Jesus, an emissary from God also teaches Christians that they should always be tolerant and love their enemies. Jesus advocated for love and tolerance to prevail at all times and exemplified that Christians should exemplify the same even in their most trying moments. In Jesus’ most difficult moments, he sought God’s directions when he was tormented and killed by crucifixion and yet at those hard moments, he preached peace. He prayed that his tormentors be forgiven (Luke 23:24). Jesus also told his followers that they should also pray for their enemies (Matthew 5:44). Jesus also tells his followers that if a person slaps one of your cheeks, you should turn on the other so he/she can slap it (Luke 6:29). In other instances, as Jesus was teaching his disciples about prayer, he taught them to forgive their transgressors (Matthew 6:12). So, Christians are obligated to forgive the people who wrong against them. The same verse also has a caveat to the forgiveness; so that the Father in heaven can also forgive their sins. There is also a parable by Jesus detailing how Christians should forgive and or show mercy as they have been forgiven and shown mercy themselves (parable of unmerciful servant in Matthew 18: 21-35). All these and many more examples in the old and new testament preach that Christians should avoid escalating differences to conflicts. They should rather be forgiving, tolerant, understanding, ambassadors of peace and the bible details their rewards.
However, the bible also documents so many conflicts and wars. In many cases the wars were won because God himself was with his people else otherwise they would not win. He was involved in wars as he gave explicit instructions such as when he told Moses to keep his hands in the air so as to win the war (Exodus 17:11). God even stopped the sun for Joshua to continue fighting (Joshua 10:12-14) . In other cases, he explicitly told Gideon the number of people he should take to war with (Judges 7:125). He even dictated that the number of soldiers to be cut down from thirty-two thousand men to three hundred only. He empowered Samson to kill himself and 3000 philistines (Judges 16:26-30). David killed Goliath in the name of God (1 Samuel 17:47-49). The list goes on and in all of Israel’s conflicts in the bible in which they won; the Israelites had sought God’s intervention before going to the war. Concisely, God allowed the other tribes, clans and people even his own (Israelites) to be killed for his glory. In some cases, his people (prophets, priests etc) killed in the name of God. A case in point the prophets of Baal who were killed by Elijah (1 Kings 18: 1-40). Rather than Elijah whisking the ball prophets and leading them to his God (sounds like a Godly thing to do) Elijah slaughtered all of them.
It is clear that in the bible God does not want Christians to do or participate in violence. It is also clear that he supported and participated in violence. The big question remains, where do Christians draw the line? Do they take part in violence irrespective of the reason or do they preach and practice peace? There is no simple answer to this but the general consensus would be to try and understand why God encouraged and preached peace. First, he participated in wars for his own lory. God considered the Israelites his people and therefore he acted in their defense and for his own glory. In the case where he instructed Gideon to reduce the number of soldiers from thirty-two thousand to three hundred, his reason was to ensure that all glory was to him. The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me’ (Judges 7:2). This means that God participated in wars so that his people could give glory to him. Thus, God justifies why and when he could allow violence and especially in the old testament, war. On the other hand, if anyone disobeyed God’s commands or rather sought their own glory in any battle, there were always negative consequences. In Samuel 13, Saul offered burnt offering before he went to a battle with the philistines. When Saul grew impatient of waiting on Samuel, the priest who was legally and spiritually designated to give burnet offering before a battle took long before he arrived. When Saul offered the sacrifice, Samuel informed him that he his Kingdom in Israel would not endure. The moral idea was that God had to be first so that his glory would prevail. Thus, Christians are not allowed to go into violence for any reason because by doing so they are seeking their won glory and not of God.
There is no simple answer as to why God allows violence to persist, but he gives explicit instructions about what a Christian as an individual should do. He instructs them to be tolerant and accommodative. He understands that there is a lot of sin and wickedness in the world and only him who can judge. He instructs Christians not to judge lest they be judged (Matthew 7:1) and not to take revenge (Romans 12:19). In Luke 6:29, he also instructs Christians not to attack those who attack them. should they be attacked, they should ‘turn on the other cheek’ to their attackers. Thus, these verses and many more contained in the new testament forbid Christians from participating and or leading to violence. God himself is capable of defending himself and his people and therefore he does not need the help of his people. It is not the work of a Christian to stamp out evil and sin from the face of the earth, but God’s. God may have used Israelites in the past to inflict pain and suffering on their enemies and enemies of God but he made a new covenant with his people. The landscape changed when Jesus was sent to the earth to become sin so that the other people can become righteous (2 Corinthians 5:21). The new covenant is exemplified by the way Jesus carried himself in the new testament. He set an example of how Christians should conduct themselves. The current generation of Christians live by the new covenant and it calls for tolerance. God himself is capable of conducting revenge without the help of anyone. In the story of Noah (Genesis 5:32-10:1) God destroyed the earth and the people in it except for Noah himself and his family with floods. God delivered Israelites from captivity and he destroyed and defeated Pharaoh’s best army single-handedly in the Red Sea (Exodus 15:4). Thus, God does not need any human to destroy his enemies. Therefore, Christians should stop doing violence to other people in God’s name. he is capable of unleashing his punishment on those who do or go contrary to his will.
God punishes those who promote violence. He prohibits killing and other forms of aggression as he alone, can do those things. In 1 Peter 3:9, he instructs Christians not to repay evil with evil. ‘Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.’ Thus, Christians are instructed to repay evil with blessings. He also specifically warns Christians not to avenge, he claims that vengeance is his (Hebrews 10:30). Additionally, in 1 Thessalonians 5:15, ‘Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.’ In this verse God instructs Christians to ensure that nobody repays wrong for wrong. Thus, it is a moral duty of Christians to ensure that another person does not seek vengeance. They should rather try to do good to each other and everyone else. In 2 Corinthians, 13:11, he instructs believer to live in peace. There are many other instances in the bible that God clearly instructs his people not to seek vengeance, to be peaceful, to exercise love, never to judge and warns them against any instance which would potentially lead to conflict. Since God is able to avenge his own people, no Christian should do violence in his name under any circumstances. Secondly, all Christians should not fight against themselves for he instructs them to live in peace. Thirdly, for the people who Christians may consider do evil against them, he instructs them not to overcome them with evil, but to overcome them with good. Thus, the biblical standpoint on conflicts and violence is clear that Christians should not cause, facilitate or take part in it.
The violence and aggression in the old testament should not be used as an excuse by Christians to be aggressive to each other or ...