Effects of war on morality and religion of a person
Introduction
Most people in the world have experienced the effects caused by war. War causes negative effects on religion, moral values, death and destruction of properties. The morality of war has become a debatable issue in the modern society. This is because of the adverse effects caused by war. Morality in the society is determined by the behavior and character of an individual. For example, society appreciates people having good behaviors as they are viewed as morally right. The society condemns people who have bad behavior as they are not morally right. Morality is made up of several elements like beliefs, values. Morality is important in the society as it determines the character of members in the community. Religion refers to the belief and worship of god and any other system of belief and worship. Various societies have different religions. People value religion much and they fight to preserve their religion. War has negative effects on morality and religion. It affects morality and religion in the society and destroys them. This paper analyzes the effect of war on religion and morality of a person.
Effects of war on religion
Most religions have viewed war negatively (Argyle, 2003).The religions do not appreciate consequences caused by war like destruction of religion and death. Most people claim that war has no much effect on religion because religion fuel wars (Argyle, 2003). This is not true because religion does not support the concept of war as it is morally wrong. People have associated war with religion as they claim religious leaders preach differences in faith and this leads to war (Argyle, 2003). In contrast war in the society is caused by various aspects. War in the society can be caused by ethnicity, hatred and economic and political factors.
War has adverse effects on religion. War has effects on the church and the individuals. First, war leads to loose of faith held by various believers (Ausenda, 2002). This is because believers are exposed to various incidents that affect their faith. Most believers have strong relationship with God before war, but it weakens with time (Ausenda, 2002). During war time people are killed and other people are made to suffer and get injured. Believers get affected by the incidents evidenced in war (Ausenda, 2002). For example, believers get traumatized during war activities and they end up loosing their faith. The faith of the believer declines as people continue to fight. Most people get scared and fear to disclose their religion during war time (Argyle, 2003). This leads to decline in faith held by the believer (Ausenda, 2002).
A recent research on effect of war on religion reveals that believer’s faith weakens as one is continuously exposed to war (Ausenda, 2002). It also weakens when one looses loved ones during war time. Another effect of war is that believers loose religious beliefs and values. Most people forget religious teaching during war (Ausenda, 2002). This is because they want to revenge and kill. Most communities will always put aside religious beliefs and values during war and continue to fight (Argyle, 2003). This affects other believers who are close to the victims affected. It also affects religious teaching as people do not follow what is taught by various religions (Ausenda, 2002).In addition, war leads to discrimination among religious leaders and churches (Ausenda, 2002). Most researchers argue that, the church is the major cause of war. This is because various religious groups differ in terms of beliefs (Ausenda, 2002). Different religions have different teaching that believers follow (Meriman, 2007).
Religion opposes war like the French war. The French war was a series of wars that took place in France for almost 36 years. The war involved various political groups (Meriman, 2007). Believers in the catholic and protestant churches fought hard to control the effects of war (Ausenda, 2002). The French war led to discrimination among believers. The Catholics did not want to be associated with protestant beliefs. Also, the war leads to destruction of societal norms and religious norms in the society. Thus, war leads to discrimination of various groups in the society. The discrimination can be in different forms (Ausenda, 2002). It can be ethnicity, race, religious and social discrimination. Countries that had war have experienced various forms of discrimination.
For example, French experienced discrimination and destruction of social values after the war.Moreover, war leads to separation of religious groups (Ausenda, 2002). This is because religious groups differ in religious issues and other social issues. The differences affect the development of the church and believers (Ausenda, 2002). For example, many churches have split into different religious groups. The process affects the development of religious activities in the church. This is because believers have different views and they no longer follow the teachings. This affects the religion of the person negatively. It can lead to confusion in the church and lose of religious beliefs (Ausenda, 2002).
Effects of war on morality
The morality of war has become a hot topic in the modern world (Gert, 2005). This is because most people question the morality of war (Gert, 2005). Some nation in the modern society and ancient nations have viewed war as noble and as a form of defense. Most people in the modern society see war undesirable and morally problematic. Several theories have been established to judge the morality of war (Gert, 2005). Some of the theories support use of war. The authors of the theories consider war to be morally upright as people use it to defend them selves, and acquire economic benefits. They do not consider the effect war has on the morality of the participants, and the society. For example, just theory supports use of war to defend the society or country. Other people believe that war is not morally right and people should not fight. People should not fight to defend their country or society, but they should exercise peace when solving disputes (Gert, 2005).
War has adverse effects on a person’s personality. Morality means a persons conduct (Gert, 2005). Societies have different moral values. Most societies appreciate people who have good behaviors. The society condemns people who have bad behaviors and as they affect the society negatively (Gert, 2005). War affects the morality of a person negatively. It affects the morality of people who fight during war and the society in general. War does more harm to the moral of people in the society than property and other valuables. The moral evil of war is suffered by people participating in the war and people in the society experiencing the war (Gert, 2005). Most researchers have carried out research to determine if war is moral or not. Most researchers argue that war is not moral because of the destruction it causes to property, lives and moral values.
Most people do not support use of war to settle disputes (Gert, 2005). Christians and other people support pacifism. Pacifism is the opposition to use of war to settle disputes. They encourage people to use peaceful means to settle disputes. This is because of the adverse effects caused by war like death, destruction of property, destruction of moral characters and religion. Christians believe that war is not ethical or it is not morally right (Gert, 2005).War affects the morality of a person because it encourages killing, destruction and suffering (Gert, 2005). There are no peaceful wars in the world. Most wars have negative effects to the society. Many people have lost lives, property because of war. Others have become traumatized and injured because of war (Gert, 2005).The society considers war to be immoral as it affects the morality of the soldiers and the community (Gert, 2005).First, war forces people to change their behavior. This is mainly among soldiers.
People who have participated in war activities have great memories (Gert, 2005). The memories make it difficulty to live normal life. People adopt various lifestyles that influence their behavior so as to keep off the memories. This makes it hard for someone to behave well (Gert, 2005).Also, war affects the morality of a person as it causes discrimination. War leads to discrimination of various groups in the society (Gert, 2005). Religious group, social groups or ethnic groups are discriminated as a result of war. This affects people living in the society as they change their moral values. People in the society will always want to revenge (Gert, 2005). This concept creates hatred in the community. According to a research carried out to determine the effects of war, most people who have experienced war activities and participants of war will always want to revenge.
This is because the victims of war are psychologically disturbed and traumatized (Gert, 2005). Most victims suffer from post traumatic depression and disorders and find it hard to forgive the perpetrators (Coady, 2008). The victims only think of revenge. The act of revenging affects the moral values of the victims and other people in the society (Coady, 2008). The victims of war are always vengeful because of the traumatization and brutalization they faced in the war. This makes it easy for the victims to bring another cycle of war as they want to revenge. The victims do not care the effect of the war on their morality and the morality of other people (Coady, 2008). The victims of war believe that revenging is the only way they will get social justice.
They develop various vices like hatred, anger and start behaving awkwardly (Coady, 2008). War has adverse effects on the morality of a person as it causes destruction of character. For example, Jewish survivors of the Nazi genocide hated Germans because of brutalization and traumatization they faced. The Jews developed anger and hatred towards the Germans and wanted to revenge (Coady, 2008).Children affected by war are always brutalized (Coady, 2008). War has negative implications on children moral norms and they end up growing being immoral (Coady, 2008). Many children who have been brutalized during ware times end up being in human in the society. This is because of the pain the children undergo. The children find it difficulty to cope with other people in the society and they end up living in fear (Coady, 2008).
Others withdraw completely from the society as a result of depression and mental disorders. Some of the children indulge in irresponsible behaviors like criminal activities and immorality as they loose their moral principles (Coady, 2008). According to report released by United Nations children fund, children affected by war suffer psychologically and loose moral values. The children are referred to as lost generation in the society. Thus, war has adverse effects than the benefits people associate with it (Coady, 2008).Most victims of war find it hard to heal or recover from trauma experiences (Coady, 2008). This is because the victims find it difficulty to come to terms with the past and accept what happened. They always suffer internally (Coady, 2008). The victims of war are supposed to be counseled frequently so as to relieve the trauma.
This makes it easy for the victims to accept what happened and regain moral values. Most victims always feel betrayed after war activities (Coady, 2008). The victims find it hard to cope with normal life. War generates moral knowledge that makes the victim to question about the world and their values and proprieties (Coady, 2008). This is because victims of war always carry biter knowledge that no limit that exists and any one can suffer the way they suffered. Questions like why, why me are always part and parcel of victims of war and d they affect the moral values of the person. The traumatic experiences make it hard for people to coexist in the society. Victims of war struggle to regain moral values and heal from effects of war (Coady, 2008).
Most soldiers engage in illegal activities during war (Coady, 2008). They kill people in the society. War forces soldiers to change moral values like honesty, respect for life and crime to murder and other vices. The moral values they acquire are not inline with the society (Coady, 2008). The society does not appreciate killing, dishonesty and destruction of property. Thus, the participants are considered immoral and the society condemns them. The soldiers do not realize whether they are acting against their moral principles (Coady, 2008).
In addition, the participant looses their integrity and people in the society consider their moral values obscured (Coady, 2008). He also loses the religious purity and honor accorded by the society. This is because he causes death of fellows men in the society and destruction of the property. The effect of war makes it dificuity for participants of the war to retain their moral principles even after the war (Coady, 2008). This is because the person has the same spirit to kill over and over. This makes it difficulty for the participants to coexist with other members of the society.
Another way through which war affects morality is through profession (Coady, 2008). War affects the profession of many participants. This is because the participants are employed to work at war times (Coady, 2008). After destruction of property and loose of life, participants loose dignity and respect from the society and their profession. Most people in the society do not appreciate the professions held by various people in the society. Thus, war affects the person morality negatively (Coady, 2008).
People who know the moral law of God do not appreciate war (Coady, 2008). War has more effects on the morals of a person as it deprives victims of war happiness and instead makes them have hatred and are always resentful (Coady, 2008). Hatred and resentment are vices that are not allowed by the moral law of God. War always leads to more resentment as it has more evil. War forces victim of war to retaliate and revenge which is against the Christian principles and morals of the society. Christianity does not encourage the spirit of resentment as it is not morally right (Coady, 2008). But, victims of war end up being more resentful and lack happiness. This is because war promotes the spirit of resentfulness (Coady, 2008). War activates the vices like hatred, resentful and killing.
This makes it difficulty for people to live in peace and happiness as it causes more harm than benefit. IT causes destruction of property and death of members of the society. It is hard for Christianity to flourish under the circumstances of war. The more a person is exposed to war, the more his religion diminishes (Coady, 2008). Countries experiencing war frequently do not have strong religious groups and people always fear to expresses their faith. This causes degradation of religious values and moral principles of the Christians. Religion helps build the moral principles in the society. It teaches people how to live together and how to behave (Coady, 2008). Lack of religion in the society leads to high rates of immorality as people have no moral principles. War and Christianity do not work together.
Vices resulting from war activities are contagious. This is because they can be transferred from one person to another person in the society (Coady, 2008). For example, people who develop hatred and become vengeful during war times are likely to transfer the vices to other members in the society. The vices affect the moral principles of the person and moral principles of other people in the society. This increases immorality in the society (Coady, 2008). War accumulates immorality and crime in the society which have harmful effects as they demoralize the public (Coady, 2008).War affects the moral development of children. This is because children ignore moral values that are acceptable in the society. For example, children ignore moral values like love.
This is common among children living in war zones (Coady, 2008). This was evidenced in a study carried out to research moral development of Columbian children living in war zones. According to the study carried out by researchers at the University of Utah, the children showed an understanding that hurting and stealing is wrong (Coady, 2008). But, the children considered revenge as important .The children accepted that it is important to steal or hurt others so as to revenge. Teenagers were more affected than other children in the population. War affected moral development of the children as they were exposed to traumatization and brutalization (Coady, 2008). Children in more than 50 countries in the world grow up in the amidst of armed conflicts and the experience of war activities. In Colombia, more than 2 million children have been displaced from their homes (Zupan, 2004).
The conflicts in the region have affected the children moral knowledge as they do not know what is wrong and what is right. According to the study, the children had clear understanding of what is wrong and right before the war (Zupan, 2004). But, the knowledge they had changed after the war. The children accepted that it is important to love other people and promote justice in the society. But, they were unable to do so because of the defects of war. The children learned how to survive in war zone by revenging. Others survived in the area through stealing and hurting others (Zupan, 2004). The children were displaced and they could not learn moral values. The situations created by war activities forced the teenagers to breach moral principles they have acquired before the war (Zupan, 2004).
The study showed that war zones and displacement of children presents youths with opportunities to reflect on intrinsic features of activities that harm other people. War activities create potential vulnerabilities in children’s moral lives (Zupan, 2004). This forces children to lack moral guidance and children become ignorant and vengeful. This causes more cycles of violence in the region. The children grow up having moral principles that are not acceptable in the society. Some of the children indulge in criminal activities and immoralities as they have wrong moral principles. Hence, war has more effects on the moral development of young children (Zupan, 2004).
Conclusion
Most people do not support war as it has adverse effects like death, destruction of religions and moral principles in the society. War has more effects on human morals, religion and life than property or zany thing else. Researchers have developed theories to explain whether war is moral or not. For example, the just theory supports war as the researchers assumed the benefits of war are more than the consequences. Other researchers do not think that war is morally right. This is because it has more adverse effects to human beings than benefits. For example, pacifism argues that people should use peace methods to solve conflicts. War has adverse effects on religion.
This is because victims of war are exposed to traumatization and brutalization. This affects the religious faith they have. The more people continue to be exposed to war activities, the more they loose their religion. People find it hard to cope with what happened and they turn away from religious activities. In addition, war leads to destruction of religion. This is because religion cannot survive in war zone and people fear to expresses their faith. This leads to break up of churches and religions can also diminish. Moreover, war leads to development of ices that are against religious activities. For exampled, people develop hatred, become vengeful. People will always want to revenge and discrimination becomes common in the society. War has adverse effects on morality of a person. It leads to destruction of moral [principles.
Victims of war will always want to revenge and cause more violence. This destroys moral principles of a person. Also, war makes someone to discriminate and hate other people in the society. This is because of traumatization and brutalization, the person has undergone. Victims of war will always involve themselves in activities which are against the moral principles of the society liked crimes and immorality. Further, war affects the moral development of children. Children living in war zones develop moral principles that are not inline with societal morals principles. Children become vengeful, hateful and involve themselves in criminal activities. Thus, war has more harm than benefit on the moral principles and religion of a person.
Reference
Ausenda, G. (2002).Effects of war on society.Boydell Press, Page 15
Argyle, M. (2003).Religious behavior. Routledge, page 36
Coady, C.A. (2008).Morality and political violence.CambridgeUniversity Press, page 71
Gert, B. (2005).Morality: its nature and justification. Oxford University Press US, page 97
Meriman, S.A. (2007).Religion and the law in America, Volume 1.ABC-CLIO,page 73
Zupan, D.S. (2004).War, morality, and autonomy: an investigation in just war theory. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., page 122
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