Violence in the Eyes of God

war is a Holy War. When people fight a Holy War they believe that they

Violence, it has been a main tool in the Christian arsenal since the middle ages. From the Crusades to the Inquisitions of Spain, violence is ever prevalent. Even in this day and age, intolerance and violence continue to be preached. But is this violence an instrument of God or man? Is violence an inherent part of this religion? Some would say that it is indeed built in to the very fabric of its being. The Old Testament is full of the smiting of infidels and those who defy God. The Book of Revelations tells of the violent and fiery demise of this entire planet. There are instances of mass genocide, the killing of innocent children, holy wars, you name a violent act and God has called for it. The story of

Generally, there is an intricate, twisted web of human motivations underlying overt behavior. Though it differs for each person, there are definite patterns that I quickly became attuned to.

Society has been subjected to many violent acts over the course of its history. Although violence is immoral and wrong, somehow people everyday condone and commit violence for countless reasons. Many Hollywood films glorify mindless violence to their advantage and captivate audiences through its entertaining shock value and rake large box office profits. Car chases, crashes and glorified gladiator sword fights are all familiar scenes in which violence is portrayed in an unrealistic glamorised manner.

We need to work to serve others in order to achieve social justice and equality for

In Europe the crusades sometimes turned their fury against Jews,murdered the entire community.This is important because it shows how they would take their anger out.They had also left a bitter legacy of religious hatred behind them both Muslims and Christians had committed awful horror in their name of religion.

Many of the ancient and historical conflicts are believed to be connected to religion in a various ways and proven that religion can be used as an excuse for violence. For instance, The Crusade Wars ended in the brutality of both Christians and Muslims during the mass dispute (Burton 1984). The Jews have perpetrated massacres through nations for the solitary reason to attain their belief. During the reformation of Christians thousands of people were killed because of their religion. In Yugoslavia, the war in 1991 pitted Orthodox Christians, Muslims, and Catholics against each other in a brutal combat (Avalos 2005). Also, thousands of monks were being persecuted in Burma

The face of Islam in western society has changed in light of the recent Paris attacks on November 13, 2015. Muslims in Canada are effectively trying to distance themselves from the extremist group associated with the Paris attacks. Due to the prejudice response to the attacks, Muslim Canadians are speaking up against the extremist group ISIS as written in the article by Sheema Khan in the national newsprint ‘The Globe and Mail’. The title of this article is “In the fight against terrorism, Muslims must own their message”, The Globe and Mail, 18 November 2015 (http://bit.ly/1lNjmYr).

In Todd Wagner’s essay on “War, Deadly Force, and the Bible.” he discusses how to help soldiers called to war to God’s commandment, “Thou shalt not kill” (Exodus 20:13 KJV). He explains that war, at times, is needed to restrict evil and is not only a divine right but also a responsibility of a nation/government. Wagner quotes Romans 13:1-4 as his reference point for this.

contribution to society and achieve economic well-being. In order for this to be achieved everyone

1.The social learning theory, implying what a person sees and retains, including actions, emotions, and words, that person will reproduce what was seen and have the motivation to replicate it, brings the question of how violence in the Bible applies to the theory. Although there are many teachings connected to the social learning theory in the Bible, there are a few important teachings that should be taught regarding the theory. For example, the poor women giving all she had for tithing, although it was not much compared to other tithes. The moral behind the poor woman giving all she had was for Christ Jesus to teach His people that it does not matter the amount given, if the tithe is given for the glory of God and not for any other reason. The social learning theory is relayed in this story by Christ Jesus wanting us to reflect and replicate the moral of the story into our own lives, only giving what we can give solely for the glory of God, no matter the price.

Immitation is a trait of humans starting at a young age and continuing up through adulthood. It is a natural response leading to a greater understanding of one’s surroundings and societal standing. Nonetheless, it is often a source of great debate due to the justification it provides for pursuing actions that stray from the ethical. Therefore, frequently literature that incorporates uncertain content is banned or marked as to prevent the allocation of such ideas to be imitated by children or unintentional readers. School systems have neglected to include in their curiculum books that advocate for violence, parents do not search out books with violent notions for their children to read, and our government has set standards and punishments to discourage violent actions in citizens.

The books Child of the Dark by Carolina Maria de Jesus and Testimony by Victor Montejo describes the lives of two individuals from different societies. In both of these societies there was much hardship and violence. The two main characters who wrote these books describe life through their point of view and explains the hardship and challenges they had living in a society filled with violence.

“Social influence is the process by which the actions of an individual or group affect the behavior of others” (Feldman 495). These influences are strongly experienced by members in the group. Every group is unique and is mostly guided by a particular norm and behavior. An individual in a group passively or actively allows himself to be influenced by the group just to have a sense of belongingness. In the bid to prevent being excluded or rejected from a group, some individuals overtly adhere to the norms of the group. “Thus, people conform to meet the expectations of the group” (Feldman 495).

All humans’ behavior is affected by social influences to some extent. The level of influence will vary from person to person, depending on the several factors, such as self-esteem, their level of self-awareness, morals, and values (Velden, 2007). People do many things to ensure they are accepted by the people in their group and to keep from being ostracized by individuals around them (Kowalski & Westen, 2011). Individuals are usually guided by their own sense of what is right or wrong and will make logical decisions based on this. However, they will sometimes completely push their own individual identity