//riot of disorder::

Everywhere I look, I see Christians in the armed forces. I always wonder to myself, how come they fight? Doesn't the Ten Commandments say "Thou shalt not kill?" Does anyone have any opinions on this?

Magus55

Well the 10 commandments don't say thou shalt not kill, it says thou shalt not murder. War isn't murder.

//riot of disorder::

But the 10 Commandments say Thou Shalt Not Kill. It doesn't say Thou Shalt Not Kill Unless Your In A War. Why didn't God spell out things more plainly?

Magus55

Read my reply again. The original Hebrew says thou shalt not murder, War is not murder. Its a shame we have to resort to war, but in some cases, its necessary to bring about good.

wade-w

There are several xian sects that do take that approach, riot. Quakers, Mennonites and Amish to give a few examples. There are others.

On the other hand, Jesus is also supposed to have said "I come not to bring peace, but with a sword." The OT is full of examples were god commands his people to kill, so the prohibition on killing is not universal.

trientalis

Last time I checked, Quakers were considered Christians and they certainly don't believe in warfare.

In any case, I think the original poster is overgeneralizing. Some Christians might emphasize Jesus' command to turn the other cheek and refuse to participate in armed conflict, for example.

Toto

There are Christian conscientious objectors. They're just a minority, a few sects who take "thou shalt not kill" as a literal commandment.

There are also unbelieving conscientious objectors. But no Islamic ones that I've heard of.

Taffer

The guys in my class are around 18, so Enlistment is starting to worry some people. The sole christian is making some objections about going to learn how to kill people, but I think that's more because he doesn't feel like going through the physical training.

Frankly, I don't care whether it's blowing open somebody's head on a battle field or planting a knife in an unsuspecting victim's back in a dark alley. Killing is killing to me, no matter how far you wangle the morals. I don't think I could stomach it easily either way.

Then again, this is Switzerland. Heaven will freeze over before we go to war, so it's kinda a moot point.

Gothic_J

oddly enough, I was far more concerned with shaving my head and losing my foot long mullet then putting a round into someone at 500 meters.

maybe Im just strange.

pug846

Murder is the illegal killing of a human being. So, God’s great commandments depend on what any given society defines as murder? I thought God’s laws were timeless and not dependent on human institution.