"Even if conventional war is acceptable for Christians, nuclear war could never be." Do you agree? Give reasons for your answer, showing you have considered more than one point of view.

Essay by sharpey2001College, UndergraduateA-, February 2004

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"Even if conventional war is acceptable for Christians, nuclear war could neverbe." Do you agree? Give reasons for your answer, showing you have considered more than one point of view.

In the modern world, there has been much debate, particularly within Christian denomination groups, over the subject of nuclear war. As opposed to conventional warfare, nuclear war employs the use of weapons of mass destruction such as chemical, biological and atomic warheads. Although the justification of conventional war, that is a war fought between trained uniformed armies normally representing different countries, is sceptically treated it is still seen to be more acceptable to Christians than nuclear war. Within the Catholic Church eight conditions have been drawn up which enable us to determine whether a war is 'just' and acceptable. Therefore, I will refer to these within my answer.

Initially, I will deal with the arguments that agree with the statement presented and which suggest nuclear war can never be seen to be acceptable from a Christian perspective.

Firstly, a number of arguments that agree with the statement all revolve around the Christian ideology, as taught by Christ himself, that we are judged on how we treat the poor (Matthew 25: 31-46). This idea applies to the issue of nuclear war because even the threat and preparation of it robs the poor and vulnerable. Huge sums of money are spent producing these weapons which could be better spent helping those in need. Also, as a result of this, less wealthy nations can be held to ransom because they do not have the money to own nuclear weapons. However, that is not all. As Christians we are called upon to try to make the world a better place and are therefore asked to work towards peace. This peacemaking though is not an...