Religious responses to victims of war
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can explain how Christians and others respond to people affected by war
Key learning points
- War harms many groups, including civilians, refugees, prisoners and traumatised soldiers.
- Christian teaching encourages practical compassion, based on love of neighbour and helping the vulnerable.
- Key Bible verses, like Matthew 25 and the parable of the Good Samaritan, inspire support for those in need.
- The Geneva Conventions and human rights laws aim to protect people during conflict.
- Many Christians and charities give aid, host refugees and campaign for justice and peace.
Keywords
Compassion - feeling deep concern for someone who is suffering and being moved to take action to help them
Refugee - someone who has been forced to flee their home country due to war, violence, persecution or disaster and seeks safety in another country
Victims of war - those who are harmed during a war, for example those killed, injured or left homeless
Common misconception
Victims of war are only civilians or refugees.
Victims can also include traumatised soldiers, prisoners, and even civilians from aggressor nations, showing the complexity of suffering in war.
Teacher tip
Use real life case studies to prompt discussion and personal engagement.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
5 Questions
Q1.What does peace-making most clearly involve?
Q2.What is a key belief of pacifists?
Q3.Jesus taught Christians to love their , supporting the idea of peace-making.
Q4.Why might non-religious people support peace-making?
Q5.Peace-makers include civilians, soldiers, and leaders.
Assessment exit quiz
5 Questions
Q1.Which is an example of war harming civilians?
Q2.Christian teaching encourages practical , based on love of neighbour.
Q3.In Matthew 25, Jesus says helping others is like ...
Q4.The Geneva aim to protect people during war.
Q5.Which of these are all potential victims of war?
To help you plan your 11 religious education lesson on: Religious responses to victims of war, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 11 religious education lesson on: Religious responses to victims of war, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 4 religious education lessons from the Religion, peace and conflict unit, dive into the full secondary religious education curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.