Injustices Right Essay, Research Paper
I believe Christians
should not use violence to put things right. The ten
commandments tell us thou shall not commit murder. If you resort to violence, you
can not be sure that you are not going to kill someone. There are other ways of
solving situations, such as compromises, talking things through and sometimes
realising situations are not really as bad as they seem. In South Africa
instead of beating and killing the white farmers for their land and starting a
race war, they could come to a compromise where as both of the parties are
happy. They could make an agreement where the white farmers offer a small part
of their land to the black workers. The workers can work on the land, grow vegetables
and build a home for himself and his family. ? I do not agree with
Desmond Tutu when he said ?that if all else fails I can understand Christians
resorting to violence? I feel that this was wrong of a man who has lots of
people who look up to him. He should of been telling people to look for other
ways than using violence for what they want. Violence has never solve anything,
just increases situations. Violence breeds violence, the other people are going
to do the same back until someone is killed. These people are not following
Gods commands and should not call themselves Catholics. Christians should condoned
violence and Desmond Tutu needs to think before he speaks about violence the
next time.A modern day
example of violence being used as a means to solve a problem is the situation
in Northern Ireland and the IRA. Essentially, the British Empire took parts of
Ireland for their own. This incensed a number of the inhabitants, and rightly
so. The Catholics of Ireland generally put up the greatest resistance, where as
it can be said the Protestants generally accepted this. The Catholics, although
is must be said not exclusively all Catholics, were not going to surrender what
they thought rightfully theirs. They could not get their voice heard and so
resorted to violence, hence the forming of the IRA. However, despite decades of
conflict, bombings and violence very little has changed. The occasional peace
treaty is agreed upon but this agreement has proven to be very fickle. Bombings
still take place in important places such as Central London and many lives have
been taken and families torn apart in the quest for some sort of conclusion to
this matter. Things do not look especially bright for the future as neither
side will back down. ??????? As Catholics we can
sympathise with the situation in Northern Ireland, but equally as Catholics we
cannot condone the actions that have been taken and their consequences. As we
can see all the violence and lives taken have done little to change the
situation in Northern Ireland. The possibility is that if there was no violence
and conflict at all and this was replaced with negotiations and compromises on
both sides, then it is likely things would be in a healthier state than they
are now. I know this has obviously been tried, though clearly not kept or
pursued. As Catholic people, they should not resort to any means of violence as
it evidently goes against the teachings of Jesus, even if they feel th
the right.This is situation
is also apparent in the Third World, where some scenes are almost sickening.
Young boys are being trained to kill and the majority of these already poor
country?s economy is being focused on military. The developed world, despite the
aid they give to such countries, are not innocent. Often it is them that sell
the firearms to these poor countries. This emphasis on violence will surely do
little to improve their situation or relations amongst the appropriate
countries. There must surely be another alternative to violence. It does not
make sense to achieve a good end by carrying out ?bad actions, because then the manner in which the good was
achieved goes against it.???????? PREJUDICE AND
DISCRIMINATIONPrejudice and
Discrimination are sometimes shown in term of colour, race, gender or
disability.I have chosen race and
David Copeland as my subject. I will explain what the Roman Catholic attitudes
to this might be and suggested ways for which the Catholic church can ?support the victims of race crimes.??David
Copeland was given the nick name the nail bomber because of the type of bombs
he used, he bragged to the police that he was a Nazi and ?hoped to trigger a race war. The twenty four
year old man targeted Blacks in Brixton, Asians in the East end of London, then
his final bomb before he was caught was in a gay pub in the heart of the Gay community
of Soho. The pub was packed
at the time not just with gay people, married couples and friends out for a
drink after work. People just enjoying themselves regardless of colour, race
and sexual preferences. David Copelands final
bomb killed three people one of which was a pregnant women. She was at the pub
with her husband who was seriously injured by the bomb but survived and a male
friend who died. David Copeland showed no remorse. His next targets according
to him were the Jewish community of Stamford Hill, the Greek and Turkish
communities of Haringey. The Roman Catholics
views to this would be that it is totally unacceptable and things like this
should never happen, this is portrayed in many parts of the bible e.g.After a vision from
God Peter said ?I now really understand that God has no favourites but that
everybody of any nationality who fears him and does what is right is acceptable
to him? {Acts 10;34} Paul tells us ?From
one single principle he not only created the whole human race so that they
could occupy the entire Earth, but he decreed the times and limits of their
inhabitation to him? {Acts 17;26}For all of you are
children of God, through faith in Christ Jesus, since every one of you has been
baptised has been clothed in Christ. There can be neither Jew nor Greek, there
can be neither slave nor freeman, there can be neither male nor female for you
are all one in Christ Jesus.The best source to
explain the Roman Catholic teaching on racial harmony is the parable of the
Good Samaritan. This teaches us to be loving to all regardless of colour, race
or sexual preference. If people do not believe in this they are not following Gods
commands to ?love thy neighbour as yourself.} {Luke 0;25-37}David copeland
broke many of the commands by what he did. ?