![\"\"](\"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/fRh7CfF.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nConsider the following regarding prominent religious leaders and the war in Ukraine:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/span>\u201cThe head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, has not said a word against Russian aggression.\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0. His Church\u2019s systematic propaganda campaign about Ukraine has been utilised in Putin\u2019s justification for war.\u201d\u2014EUobserver, March 7, 2022.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \u00a0<\/span>\u201cPatriarch Kirill\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0has sent his strongest signal yet justifying his country\u2019s invasion of Ukraine\u2014describing the conflict as part of a struggle against sin.\u201d\u2014AP News, March 8, 2022.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \u00a0<\/span>\u201cUkrainian Orthodox Church leader, Metropolitan Epiphanius I of Kyiv, on Monday blessed his people to \u2018fight against the Russian invaders\u2019\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0[He] also stated that killing Russian soldiers isn\u2019t a sin.\u201d\u2014Jerusalem Post, March\u00a016, 2022.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \u00a0<\/span>\u201cWe [the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations (UCCRO)] support the Armed Forces of Ukraine and all our defenders, we bless them in their defense of Ukraine from the aggressor, and offer our prayers for them.\u201d\u2014UCCRO\u00a0<\/span>*<\/a>\u00a0Statement, February\u00a024, 2022.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n \u00a0<\/span>What do you think? Should religions that claim to follow Jesus Christ encourage their members to go to war? What does the Bible say?<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>History shows that religion has often condoned, justified, or even promoted war while pretending to work for peace. For decades, Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses have exposed such religious hypocrisy. Consider some examples cited in our publications.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>\u201cThe Crusades\u2014A \u2018Tragic Illusion\u2019\u201d shows how the Roman Catholic Church was responsible for massacres committed in the name of God and of Christ.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \u00a0<\/span>\u201cThe Catholic Church in Africa\u201d describes an example of how religion failed to prevent tribal warfare, even genocide.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \u00a0<\/span>The articles \u201cIs Religion to Blame?,\u201d \u201cReligion\u2019s Role in Man\u2019s Wars,\u201d and \u201cReligion Takes Sides\u201d explain how Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant clergy have supported\u00a0both<\/em>\u00a0sides of many wars.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n \u00a0<\/span>What Jesus taught:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cYou must love your neighbor as yourself.\u201d (Matthew 22:39) \u201cContinue to love your enemies.\u201d\u2014Matthew 5:44-47.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>Consider:<\/strong>\u00a0Can a religion claim to obey Jesus\u2019 commands about love and at the same time encourage its adherents to kill others in war? For the answer, read the articles \u201cTrue Christians and War\u201d and \u201cIs It Possible to Love One\u2019s Enemies?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u00a0<\/span>What Jesus said:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cMy Kingdom is no part of this world. If my Kingdom were part of this world, my attendants would have fought that I should not be handed over.\u201d (John 18:36) \u201cAll those who take up the sword will perish by the sword.\u201d\u2014Matthew 26:47-52.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>Consider:<\/strong>\u00a0If Christians were not to fight even to protect Jesus, should they take up arms for any other reason? Read the article \u201cIs War Compatible With Christianity?\u201d to see how early Christians faithfully followed Jesus\u2019 example and teachings. {continue reading<\/strong><\/em><\/a>}<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Consider the following regarding prominent religious leaders and the war in Ukraine: \u00a0\u201cThe head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, has not said a word against Russian aggression.\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0. His Church\u2019s systematic propaganda campaign about…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6216,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ukraine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6215"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6215\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6217,"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6215\/revisions\/6217"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The history of religion in war<\/h2>\n
\n
Should Christian religions support war?<\/h2>\n
\n