RE Key Terms

• War is fighting between nations to resolve issues between them.
• Peace is an absence of conflict, which leads to happiness and harmony.
• Justice is bringing about what is right and fair, according to the law or making up for a wrong that has been committed.
• Forgiveness is showing grace and mercy and pardoning someone for what they have done wrong.
• Reconciliation is a sacrament in the Catholic Church; also, when individuals or groups restore friendly relations after conflict or disagreement.
• Protest is an expression of disapproval, often in a public group.
• Violence is using actions that threaten or harm others.
• Terrorism is the unlawful use of violence, usually against innocent civilians, to achieve a political goal.
• Greed is selfish desire for something.
• Self-defence is acting to prevent harm to yourself or others.
• Retaliation is deliberately harming someone as a response to them harming you.
• Nuclear weapons are weapons that work by a nuclear reaction; they devastate huge areas and kill large numbers of people.
• Weapons of Mass Destruction are weapons that can kill large numbers of people and/or cause great damage.
• Chemical weapons are weapons that use chemical to poison, burn or paralyse humans and destroy the natural environment.
• Biological weapons are weapons that have living organisms or infective material that can lead to disease or death.
• Just War is a war which meets internationally accepted criteria for fairness; follows traditional Christian rules for a just war, and is now accepted by all other religions.
• Jihad is the personal struggle of each Muslim against evil as they try to follow the way of Allah.
• Lesser Jihad is the outward struggle to defend one’s faith, family and country from threat.
• Holy War is fighting for a religious cause or God, probably controlled by a religious leader.
• Pacifism is the belief of people who refuse to take part in war and any other form of violence.
• Peacemaker is a person who works to establish peace in the world or in a certain part of it.
• Peacemaking is the action of trying to establish peace.