WAR DOES NOT BRING PEACE, BUT ONLY BEGETS MORE WAR.





WAR DOES NOT BRING PEACE, BUT ONLY BEGETS MORE WAR.

 World War I was billed the war to end all wars, yet less than thirty years later Europe was engulfed by World War II. Understanding this truth, the greatꠓest saints taught the doctrine of non-violence. They willingly suffered blows without retaliating in kind. This is the highest teaching for establishing a peaceful world. The ideal of God’s Kingdom cannot be built in any other way.

Nevertheless, in the vicissitudes of history, when people encounter cruel aggressors, God permits them to defend themselves. Between the two parties in such a conflict, God aligns Himself on the side of the defender and against the aggressor. Hence through history, the aggressor who initiated war thinking he will win ended the loser. This again shows the futility of war as an instrument of national policy. 

1. The Path of Non-Violence
Then they came up and laid hands upon Jesus and seized him. And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck the slave of the high priest, and cut off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.”
Matthew 26.51-52 
Do not resist one who is evil. But if any one strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also; and if any one would sue you and take your coat, let him have your cloak as well; and if any one forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.


Matthew 5.39-41
Victory breeds hatred, for the defeated live in pain. Happily live the peaceful, giving up victory and defeat.
Dhammapada 201 (Buddhism)
For behold, they had rather sacrifice their lives than even to take the life of their enemy; and they have buried their weapons of war deep in the earth, because of their love towards their brethren.
Book of Mormon, Alma 26.32 (Latter-day Saints)

How do you pray that sinners die? Rather pray that they should repent, and thus there will be no more wickedness.
Talmud, Berakot 10a (Judaism)
The force of arms cannot do what peace does. 

If you can gain your desired end with sugar, why use poison?
Somadeva, Nitivaktyamrita 344 (Jainism)
Abruptly King Hsiang asked me, “Through what can the Empire be settled?”
“Through unity,” I said.
“Who can unite it?”
“One who is not fond of killing can unite it,” I said.

Mencius I.A.6 (Confucianism)
Through violence you may murder a murderer, but you can’t murder murder. Through violence you may murder a liar, but you can’t establish truth. Through violence you may murder a hater, but you can’t murder hate. Darkness canꠓnot put out darkness. Only light can do that.
Martin Luther King, Jr., Where Do We Go from Here: 

Chaos or Community? (Christianity)
Some children were playing beside a river. They made castles of sand, and each child defended his castle and said, “This one is mine.” They kept their castles separate and would not allow any mistakes about which was whose. When the castles were all finished, one child kicked over someone else’s castle and completely destroyed it. The owner of the castle flew into a rage, pulled the other child’s hair, struck him with his fist and bawled out, “He has spoiled my castle! 

Come along all of you and help me to punish him as he deserves.” The others all came to his help. They beat the child with a stick and then stamped on him as he lay on the ground
 
Then they went on playing in their sand castles, each saying, “This is mine; no one else may have it. Keep away! Don’t touch my castle!” But evening came, it was getting dark and they all thought they ought to be going home. No one now cared what became of his castle. One child stamped on his, another pushed his over with both hands. Then they turned away and went back, each to his home.14
Yogacara Bhumi Sutra 4 (Buddhism)
Anger and hatred cannot bring harmony. The noble task of arms control and disarmament cannot be accomplished by confrontation and condemnation. 
Tenzin Gyatso, The Fourteenth Dalai Lama 
(Buddhism)

They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, 
and their spears into pruning hooks; 
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more.
Isaiah 2.4 

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
God certainly does not want to unite the world with weapons, and neither do I. Weapons are instruꠓments of power, but God is thinking how to unite the world with love. (103:184, February 25, 1979)
Among the historical great figures of the past
those who met opposition by defending themꠓselves as being in the right cannot join the ranks of the saints. The people of Jesus’ day condemned him to death. Although it grieved him, he endured his path in silence. Even so, he re-emerged as an historical victor. Why? Because he did not fight with those who condemned him. (80:34, October 4, 1975)
Why don’t religious believers fight back when they are attacked? Why don’t we teach people to fight with those in power? If humanity could find hope through violence, our way would be foolish. The original way of life in the Garden of Eden has nothing to do with violence or revenge. God’s ideal of creation is not like that. 
We cannot realize the ideal world by the sword. The original Garden of Eden is not a place of conflict. Its inhabitants are humble and full of love; they do not compete to exalt themselves. Yet up to the present, God had no choice but to coach with believers who were accustomed to fighting and struggling for power. 
Now that we know how it is to live in the original world, we can clearly see that people who are self-centered and arrogant have nothing to do with God. True religion does not teach people to fight, exploit others and dominate others. We should live with “love” as our motto

We cannot fight, because we have to live as we would in the original world. There we would be humble, and being humble, we would live for the sake of others and love others. We who pursue the heavenly nation should live by these three values. Then, although we may face all manner of opposition, we will gradually expand the realm where people practice this way of life. (98:33, April 8, 1978) 

2. The Immorality and Futility of Aggressive War
In wars to gain land, the dead fill the plains; in wars to gain cities, the dead fill the cities. This is known as showing the land the way to devour human flesh. Death is too light a punishment for such men who wage war. Hence those skilled in war should suffer the most severe punishments.
Mencius IV.A.14 (Confucianism)
Fine weapons are instruments of evil.
They are hated by men.
Therefore those who possess Tao turn away from them

Weapons are instruments of evil, not the instruments of a good ruler.
When he uses them unavoidably, he regards calm restraint as the best principle.
Even when he is victorious, he does not regard it as praiseworthy,
For to praise victory is to delight in the slaughter of men.
He who delights in the slaughter of men will not succeed in the empire

For the slaughter of the multitude, let us weep with sorrow and grief.
For a victory, let us observe the occasion with funeral ceremonies.
Tao Te Ching 31 (Taoism)
If possible, so far as it depends upon you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” No, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. 
Romans 12.18-21
Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!
Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. 
For the wicked shall be cut off; but those who wait for the Lord shall possess the land. 
Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look well at his place, he will not be there. 
But the meek shall possess the land,
and delight themselves in abundant prosperity. 
The wicked plots against the righteous,
and gnashes his teeth at him; but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees that his day is coming. 
The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows, to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those who walk uprightly; 
their sword shall enter their own heart,
and their bows shall be broken. 
Psalm 37.8-15
Imam ‘Ali found a letter in the scabbard of the Messenger of God’s sword on which was written, “The worst of people in the sight of God is the killer of one who does not fight him, and he who beats one who does not beat him
for he has committed the crime of kufr (disbelief) in what God has sent down upon Muhammad. 
Hadith (Shiite Islam)
Do not fight the people until they initiate fighting, for then by the grace of God you will have justification, and leaving them alone until they initiate fighting is yet another justification. Then if you defeat them, do not kill the one who is fleeing, and do not finish off the wounded or expose nakedness or mutilate the dead.
Amir-ul-Mu’mineen ‘Ali, Da’aim al-Islam (Islam)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
Think of how much money the world is wasting on war. Humanity needs to realize that we are committing fearful sins in the presence of history and our descendants. Let us take one example. 
How much money has the United States spent on the war in Iraq during the past three years? It is approaching $200 billion
 
In this age, war is a most primitive and destructive means of resolving conflict, and will never lead to lasting peace. Now is the time, as the prophet Isaiah taught, to beat our swords into ploughshares and spears into pruning hooks. Humankind should end the perverse cycle of war, which only sacrifices our children’s lives and squanders astronomical sums of money. The time has come for the countries of the world to pool their resources15 and advance toward the world of peace desired by God, the Master of this great universe. (September 21, 2005)
God will not forgive a nation if it utilizes only for its own benefit the scientific technology it was given as a means to bring peace for all humankind. God granted science and technology to humanity for the happiness of all. It should not be monopolized only for the white race. Nor should it be used to create weapons, disregarding the realization of world peace. (190:178, June 19, 1986)
In a war, how do you distinguish between the good side and the evil side? The evil side strikes while the other side is at ease. That is why when two students are fighting, the teacher asks them, “Who started it?” and takes the side of the student who was attacked. The student who attacks first always loses, because the teacher takes the side of the one who was attacked. Likewise, throughout history, 
God takes the side of the defender. 
Why is it wrong to attack first? Originally, goodness should have taken the lead in the universe, but instead evil took the initiative. At the Human Fall, Adam and Eve were struck when they were doing nothing wrong. God was attacked when He was doing nothing wrong. Thus, a characteristic of evil is aggression. When an attacker inflicts harm, he should pay for the violation. The person whom he attacked may request compensation for damages. 
God knows this principle. Do you think He initiates wars? No, God’s strategy is to be the defender, not the aggressor. Likewise, people on God’s side receive blows; they do not attack. They are not aggressors because God is not an aggressor, and they strive to follow God’s example. God’s people take the beating and endure, never giving up. Then they have the right to seek for compensation. 
Satan is the king of aggressors. He is the father of all aggressors and evil people. God is the king of defenseless people who take beatings. The more a person is beaten, the more he can shorten the length of the indemnity period according to the principle of restoration through indemnity. 
We can recognize this pattern throughout history: Satan attacks first and loses, while God is attacked but gains in the end. Look at the example of World War I: Germany started that war, but they lost. The Germans thought they could win the war; otherwise they would not have started it. Satan always thinks he can win; that is why his forces start wars. But no one can win by violating heavenly law. Look at World War II: Germany and Japan started the war, but they lost. God, the Supreme Judge, admonished the aggressors, “You are in the wrong.” (91:243-44, February 23, 1977)

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