VE Day

8th May
2020
War and Peace
 • On the morning of 8 May 1945, a national holiday for ‘Victory in Europe Day’ was
VE Day – •
declared in Britain,
Prime Minister Churchill had gained assurances from the Ministry of Food that
8th May •
there were enough beer supplies in the capital

1945
The Board of Trade announced that people could purchase red, white and blue
bunting without using ration coupons. Street parties were held across Britain
with bunting lining the streets.
VE Day in London as pictured by the Daily Telegraph
A street party in Helmshore, Rossendale
LS Lowry’s painting of life on VE Day in Manchester
LS Lowry’s painting of life on VE Day in Manchester
Pacifism is the belief that ALL war
and violence is wrong.
Pacifists believe that war
is a category of violence
that is never necessary,
so they refuse to fight
If a war is declared, & they are ‘called up’, they
become CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS, as killing
people is against their conscience

16,00 in WW1
59,000 in WW11
 Do you think it is fair that some
people should opt out of fighting?
How is it different from desertion
due to cowardice?
What do you think should happen to
them?
Can you give any reasons why religious
believers would not fight?
• Killing humans conflicts with their sacred
writings
• Our old friend – the SANCTITY OF LIFE
• War wastes precious lives & damages the
environment
• It causes suffering, hatred & greed
• In the end, negotiation is needed, so why
not do it in the first place?
 Christian pacifists
Believe in TURNING THE OTHER CHEEK
They are willing to die, but not to kill for
their beliefs
They refuse to be in combat roles
But may be prepared to be ambulance
drivers or nurses
 Christians
Early Christians opposed all fighting
One of their leaders, Origen said
‘For we no longer take sword against a nation,
having become sons of peace for the sake of
Jesus who is our leader’
How did Jesus react to violence?
How did he react to his own arrest?
What did he say you should do if someone struck you
on the cheek?
 Quakers (The Society of Friends)
This is the most famous Christian
pacifist denomination

Katherine Fisher, 26, from

Boston is a Quaker pacifist.
She feels that all war,
including the one in Iraq, is
wrong, and has refused to pay
the £1,200 she owed in taxes
as a protest.
The Quaker campaign is called Turning the Tide
 Quakers believe…
That there is God in everyone
William Penn said
Let us then try what love
can do: for if men did
once see we love them,
we should soon find they
would not harm us.

Do you agree?
Can you think of any
situations in which
this would be naïve?
 Another Christian pacifist group is PAX
CHRISTI, within the Roman Catholic church
Their major objectives are
To bring reconciliation
To promote a culture of peace & non-violence
To provide the means to bring about peace
 Famous Pacifists?
Who have you studied, who is famous
for having a non violent attitude, and
maintaining non-violence in the face of
open attack?
Who said…..

Returning violence for

violence multiplies violence,
adding deeper darkness to a
night already devoid of
stars... Hate cannot drive
out hate: only love can do
that.
Martin Luther king

Do you
think that
this method
could be
applied to
ANY
situation?
He considered whether Pacifism
would have worked against Hitler,
in Nazi Germany.
He suggested that if ALL Germans
had chosen to wear a yellow star,
and not let the Jews be singled
out, the Final Solution could not
have been carried out.
But he did also say that a non-violent
approach works well against a leader
with a conscience, but less so with a
leader with no conscience.
"if your opponent has a conscience, then
follow Gandhi. But if you enemy has no
conscience, like Hitler, then follow
Bonhoeffer."
Gandhi? Bonhoeffer?
 Gandhi
Gandhi was the leader of
the Indian nationalist
movement against
British rule. His
doctrine of non-violent
protest to achieve
political and social
progress has been
hugely influential.
MLK was inspired by him,
in planning non-violent
protests
 Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Dietrich Bonheoffer was a

German Christian minister in
the time of Hitler’s Nazi
regime.

He was naturally a PACIFIST

and tried non-cooperation with
the government e.g. refusing
to fly the Swastika flag.

He came to a point of
reluctantly changing his mind &
decided that pacifism would not
work against Hitler.
He said that if a huge vehicle was crushing
people under its wheels, there came a time
‘not just to bandage the victims under
the wheel, but to jam a spoke in the
wheel itself.’
He became convinced that Christians who
did nothing were condoning the actions of
Hitler
 He became involved in a plot to kill Hitler.

When the plot failed, he was captured, imprisoned &

executed just days before the war ended
War and Peace
Part 2 –
Writing task.
 Peace-making in contemporary Britain
The Anglican Pacifist Fellowship
The Anglican Pacifist Fellowship is a body
of people within the Anglican Communion
who reject war as a means of solving
international disputes, and believe that
peace and justice should be sought
through non-violent means.
Central to Jesus’ teaching is the message
of love, for God, our neighbour and even
our enemies. They believe they are to do
good to those who hate us, and not
respond to violence with violence.
The Muslim Peace Fellowship
Founded in 1994, the Muslim Peace
Fellowship is the first Muslim
organisation specifically devoted to the
theory and practice of Islamic
nonviolence.
They try to deepen peoples
understanding of Muslim teachings on
peace. They do this through conferences
and publications. They are working
towards developing non-violent
strategies for issues in society.
 Religious attitudes to pacifism
Christian views
Some Christians follow the teachings of
Jesus:
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall
be called children of God.”
Matthew 5:9 [NIV]
Quakers are a denomination of Christianity
that strongly support pacifism
Martin Luther King taught that hatred could
only be driven out by the force of love. He
achieved civil rights for black Americans
without ever responding to violence with
violence. This refusal to use force fulfilled
Jesus’ command to turn the other cheek.
Muslim views
Even though Islam is a religion of peace, it
is not a pacifist religion as there is the duty
of jihad and the instruction in the Qur’an:
“Fighting has been ordained for you, though it is
hard for you. You may dislike something although
it is good for you, or like something because it is
bad for you. God knows you and you do not.”
Qur’an 49:9
Muslims must not refuse peace if it is
offered to them:
“But if they [non-believers] incline towards
peace, you [Prophet] must also incline
towards it, and put your trust in God. He is
the All Hearing, the All Knowing.”
Qur’an 8:61
 Pacifism
Lesson Launch: Key terms:
What message do you think the image is trying to portray? Pacifism: the belief of people who refuse to take part in
war and any other form of violence
Peacemaker: a person who works to establish peace in
the world or in a certain part of it
Peace-making: the action of trying to establish peace
Challenge: Explain how this image may be linked with pacifism.
The Anglican Pacifist Fellowship

1. Do you agree with pacifism?

2. Do you think pacifists should be expected to fight in a war? Explain your reasons.

3. Is being involved in a non-combat role a reasonable alternative to fighting?

The Muslim Peace Fellowship

Christian attitudes towards pacifism Muslims attitudes towards pacifism

Learning objective: to understand Christian and Muslim beliefs about pacifism.

 Exam questions

‘Promoting justice and human rights is an effective

way or preventing conflict.’
Evaluate this statement. In your answer you should:
• Should give detailed arguments in support of this statement
• Should give reasoned arguments to support a different point of view
• Should refer to religious arguments
• May refer to non-religious arguments
• Should reach a justified conclusion [12 marks]
 Questions
1) Explain what is meant by the term
‘pacifism’. In 1 paragraphs.
2) Explain why religious believers might be
pacifists In 2 paragraphs.
3) Turning the other cheek is just not
realistic in the modern world’ Do you
agree? In 3 paragraphs.