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RE:QUEST

A space for resources to help RE teachers and their students explore the Christian faith
“A huge resource to treasure.”
Lat Blaylock, Editor, RE Today

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Christian Responses to Weapons of Mass Destruction

The vast majority of Christians are opposed to weapons of mass destruction (WMD). This is for a number of reasons, including:

  • They believe that peace is important because of the many teachings in the Bible that emphasise it. In particular, the teachings of Jesus suggest that violence is wrong. Indeed, Jesus is viewed as a peacemaker. As they try to follow Jesus' example and teachings, Christians will disagree with anything that disrupts the peace.
  • Christian teachings around the sanctity of life lead them to place great value on human life. WMD lead to a huge loss of life, including innocent civilians.
  • Some Christians agree that WMD might act as a deterrent, putting people off starting a war, however, the problems caused by them are far worse than any advantages.
  • They understand that warfare has changed over the centuries and that the development of WMD is a natural progression in the evolution of weaponry. However, because of the cost of human life and the damage that they do to the environment, Christians would argue that the use of WMD can never be justified.
  Follow the links on this resource to complete the following tasks:
  1. What are the three main types of WMD?
  2. Give two examples of problems and advantages of WMD.
  3. Find one biblical reason that Christians might support the use of WMD.
  4. Find one biblical reason that Christians might not support the use of WMD.
  5. Why do Christians not accept WMD? Select two reasons.
  6. Which of these reasons do you think is the most important reason for not accepting WMD? Why?
  7. What is your view on WMD? Do you think they are acceptable or not? Why?