The War Prayer Analysis

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War has always been a part of human history. Two countries disagree or one makes an offense and a war starts. There have been documents describing war: Why the war started, how the two sides fought, how long it lasted and who won. However, there are two documents which take a different approach to describing war. The "Second Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln" and "The War Prayer" by Mark Twain describe the people fighting each other ask for help to God but both sides cannot get help and then explain their point of view on war.
"The War Prayer" by Mark Twain states that people pray to win but there is another side to the prayer, " if you would beseech a blessing upon yourself, beware ! Lest without intent you invoke a curse upon a neighbor …show more content…
Abraham Lincoln doesn't literally state the other side of a prayer but implies it when he says " each invokes His aid against the other- the prayers of both could not be answered". Lincoln implies that one side has to loose, to pray for the other side to loose, since both prayers cannot be answered, both sides cannot win or get His (Gods) aid. Lincoln then focuses more on the civil war. He states that the reason for the Civil war is that slavery is an offense to god and that god now seeks to end slavery by creating the civil war, "woe to that man by whom the offense cometh- American slavery is one of those offenses- he now wills to remove and gives this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came".
Both documents, The "Second Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln" and "The War Prayer" by Mark Twain, explain that praying to god for success in a war has another side which is not usually mentioned. That other side being to pray for the failure of your adversary. Furthermore more each document elucidate their point of view of war. The "War Prayer" by Mark Twain shows the reader the consequences of loosing the war, like destroying families. On the other hand the "Second Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln" discusses the cause of the civil
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