Key Terms

• Biological weapons - Weapons that have living organisms or ineffective material that can lead to disease or death.
• Chemical weapons - Weapons that use chemicals to poison, burn or paralyse humans and destroy the natural environment.
• Forgiveness - Showing grace and mercy and pardoning someone for what they have done wrong.
• Greed - Selfish desire for something.
• Holy war - Fighting for a religious cause or god, probably controlled by a religious leader.
• Justice - Bringing about what is right and fair according to the law or making up for a wrong that has been committed
• Just war - A war which meets internationally accepted criteria for fairness - follows traditional Christian/ Islamic rules for a just war and is now accepted by all other religions.
• Nuclear weapons - Weapons that work by a nuclear reaction, they devastate huge areas and kill large numbers of people.
• Pacifism - The belief of people who refuse to take part in war or any other form of violence.
• Peace - An absence of conflict which leads to happiness and harmony.
• Peacemaker - A person who works to establish peace in the world or a certain part of it.
• Peace-making - The action of trying to establish peace.
• Protest - An expression of disapproval often in a public group.
• Reconciliation - A sacrament in the Catholic Church also when individuals or groups restore friendly relations after a conflict or disagreement.
• Retaliation - Deliberately harming someone in response to them harming you.
• Self-defence - Acting to prevent harm to yourself or to others.
• Terrorism - The unlawful use of violence usually against innocent civilians to achieve a political goal.
• Violence - Using actions that threaten or harm others.
• War - Fighting between nations to resolve issues between them.
• Weapons of mass destruction - Weapons that can kill large numbers of people and / or cause great damage.