Holy War

Crusade - A war for a religious or a moral purpose

For a war to be regarded as holy:

 Authorised by a religious leader - (eg. The Pope - Crusades)
 A religious goal in mind
 A religious reward - (Going to paradise)

Negative outcomes of holy war:

 Lives lost - innocent civilians
 Impact on politics
 Hatred - both sides of religion, people displaced from their home
 HOW DO YOU PROVE THAT GOD COMMANDS A WAR

Judaism and holy war

Milchemet Mitzvah - God commands it - Holy War

Milchemet Reshut - Optional war (not commanded by God, follows just war)

2 Samuel 22: King david giving thanks for

Numbers 33 - God commands the Israelites to seize the Land of Canaan

Isaiah 2 - Nation shall not lift up sword against nation (AGAINST)

Exodus 15:3 - A lord is a man of war (AGAINST)

Deuteronomy 20:12 - If they refuse to make peace and engage you in battle, lay siege
to that city

Deuteronomy 20:1

Weapons of mass destruction

1. What is nuclear war

Nuclear proliferation - The spread of nuclear weapons, fissionable material, and weapons

Nuclear deterrent - (Deterrence theory holds that) nuclear weapons are intended to deter
other states from attacking with their nuclear weapons, through the promise of
retaliation and mutually assured destruction

MAD - Mutually assured destruction - the doctrine of military strategy in which full-scale use
of nuclear weapons by two or more opposing sides would cause complete annihilation of
both the attacker and the defender

Nuclear warhead detonating - The blast, thermal radiation, ionising radiation, residual
radiation

2. Nuclear war reflection

Concerns with nuclear war - death, politics
Why some countries have nuclear weapons
 The US created them when learning that Germany was trying to make them - 2
bombs created, one used to end WWII
 Soviets made them as US had them
 British and French made them as Soviets had them
 The US built more powerful Hydrogen Bombs after Soviets built and tested one
 Chinese made them as they didn’t trust Russia and because US had them
 Other countries (Turkey, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands) had US-loaned bombs in
their countries to counter the Soviets if they threatened them and the US couldn’t (no
longer have these)
 Israel got some as their country is tiny, surrounded by enemies and could be overrun
in hours - deter enemies they could strike back

Countries with weapons - US, RU, UK, FR, CH, IN, PK, NK, IS

Nuclear weapons in the news //

4. ‘Above the noise’ video

Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jfv-uvwF14

Fission - atoms are split into new atoms releasing energy

Fusion - atoms are combined - 2 into 1 MORE POWERFULL

Destruction - Radiation mutates DNA, kills cells, cancer

Ash blocks sunlight - nuclear winter - hurt ecosystems

Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons - Cuban missile crises - Soviets had
nuclear weapons in Cuba pointing at US - 12-day crises led to the treaty
 Countries with weapons will take steps to get rid of them
 Countries without won’t try to get them
Signed by every country except IS, PK, IN, NK(withdrew)

70,000 → 15,00 (RU and US own 93%)

Deterrence effective? - In 70 years that rival countries have had nuclear weapons - no
attacks
Critics - theory doesn’t hold up in the modern world - chance of accidental launch or terrorist
group too high (Would terrorist be deterred if they got their hands on the bomb)
REALLY SAFE - Get rid of all weapons

5. Nuclear war and the Just War Theory

Reasonable chance of success -

Last resort -
Agreed by a legitimate authority - YES
Intention to restore peace - Difficult as nuclear weapons could cause so much damage that it
may be hard to restore peace
Should be a just cause - if self-defence as other country uses nuclear weapons, then YES
Avoid killing innocent civilians - Such a wide area, unlikely NO
Methods should be proportional - If self-defence as other country is using weapons, then
YES
WEBSITE
Talmud - prohibits waging war if casualty rate would exceed ⅙ of the population (although
can threaten to adopt a strategy that it’s prohibited to use for deterrence) - Can tell a lie to
save a life

Use of tactical nuclear weapons used in the field of battle where complete destruction of
soldiers is possible is permissible after proper warning and peace-seeking

TEXTBOOK
Benefits and problems of WMD p353 to p354

Deliberately target innocent civilians - children, old people, women (exclude from the effects
of war by Holy and Just War theories)
So powerful, they threaten the world with extinction
Chem and bio weapons can kill as many people as nuclear weapons, although slower
Difficult to deliver effectively, effects can be unknown - could be uncontrollable -
spread

Mutually assured destruction

Bio and Chem weapons don’t destroy buildings, roads, bridges etc - efficient at destroying
the enemy - those using weapons can be protected by gas masks, protective clothing etc

Terrorist attacks that have happened: 9/11, Manchester bombing, 7/7

Effects:
Death
Phycological effects
Economic
Politics

Issues surrounding violence

Jewish views - against using violence except under legal authority because
 Judaism based on the rule of law and mutual respect between members of society.
Violent people have no respect for the people they victimise so don’t know their
responsibilities as members of society
 Violence without a Just cause is sinful
 Human beings are made in God’s image. Being violent is mistreating God’s creation
so is wrong Genesis 1:27 - God made man in his image
 The duty of Jews - protect the weak and innocent - loving thy neighbour - Violence is
opposite as they attack and exploit the weak and innocent
 In a democracy - every person has human rights - to live free from fear - Judaism
teaches that Jews should defend human rights and so they shouldn’t be violent to
each other
Leviticus 19:18 - Love your neighbour // Luke 10:27 for Christianity

How Jews overcome issues

“Price Tag” - hate crimes carried out by extremist settler Jewish Israelis which target property
associated with Arabs, Christians, secular Israelis and Israeli soldiers

Condemned by the leading rabbis in Israel

AJC - American Jewish Committee - Fight against anti-Semitism and bigotry.

Atheist views:
 Fundamentally wrong for civilians to be directly targeted by violence to achieve
political, social, economic or religious ends

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Peace

Shalam - Peace / Wholeness / Some once broken is made whole - restoring

Important for Jews - Messianic age will bring peace - full peace will happen everywhere -
see messianic age as ideal - strive for ideal so Jews act to bring ideal(peace) **King David**

Job 5:24
Jeremiah 23:58
t
Promotes unity - good for their community - and peace // harmony

Midrash - Torah was given to establish peace

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Israel vs Palestine

Jewish Voice for Peace

 All volunteer Israel and Palestine peace group - want to achive a just and lasting
peace
 Fight for the right to criticise unjust actions by the state

Whoever kills a single life kills the whole world - Sandringham

Deuteronomy 20:10 - when you march up to attack a city, make it’s people an offer of peace
God created man in the image of God - Genesis
Exodus 20:30 You shall not murder
Numbers 35:30 -
Deuteronomy 32:39 - God puts to death and God brings to life
Psalm 34:16 - Seek peace and persue it
Isaiah 2:1 - Nation will not take up sword against nation