Christian Values and War: When should we fight?

No doubt, the war in Afghanistan is controversial- but from a Christian perspective, how should we view this ugly conflict that is killing so many of our soldiers in a distant land?

Jesus taught us to love unconditionally; to love even our enemies:

Matthew 5:

43 "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44 But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous."

So how do we reconcile these admonishments with the real fact that there are evil people out there in the world, trying very hard (as we saw with 9/11) to do us harm? Would Jesus say, yes, you have a right to neutralize them.

And what would Jesus say we should do about the human rights abuses in a place like Afghanistan- the horrendous plight of women and religious minorities, for example. Do we as Christians have a moral obligation to help? Or can we ignore the abuses because they are occurring in a sovereign country, and are therefore none of our business. Should we just voice our concern, or do we have a moral obligation to use force if necessary to stop those abuses, even if the population as a whole is not supportive and views as suspicious an army that is supposed to restore peace- but is almost entirely composed of soldiers from so-called Christian nations that too often seem to inflict all sorts of collateral death and destruction while carrying out their mission.

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John 6:33: "For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

Until recently, war was waged with an entirely different philosophy: when you went to war with a country, anyone in that country was fair game- and not just the enemy combatants; the assumption was that even if someone wasn't a soldier, they were at least sympathetic to and supportive of the mission. This explains why in WW II, we saw the indiscriminate bombing of London, Dresden, and, of course Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

In the Old Testament, there are numerous references to this kind of approach to war; for example, in Numbers 1 , Moses waged war against the Midians:

They fought against Midian, as the LORD commanded Moses, and killed every man. 8 Among their victims were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba—the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword. 9 The Israelites captured the Midianite women and children and took all the Midianite herds, flocks and goods as plunder. 10 They burned all the towns where the Midianites had settled, as well as all their camps. 11 They took all the plunder and spoils, including the people and animals, 12 and brought the captives, spoils and plunder to Moses and Eleazar the priest and the Israelite assembly at their camp on the plains of Moab, by the Jordan across from Jericho.

13 Moses, Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the community went to meet them outside the camp. 14 Moses was angry with the officers of the army—the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds—who returned from the battle.

15 "Have you allowed all the women to live?" he asked them. 16 "They were the ones who followed Balaam's advice and were the means of turning the Israelites away from the LORD in what happened at Peor, so that a plague struck the LORD's people. 17 Now kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man, 18 but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man.



Today, armies like the U.S. have Rules of Engagement and the Geneva Convention- trouble is, the terrorists in places like Afghanistan, Pakistan and Gaza don't subscribe to those "new" rules- they still do battle the old way and kill everyone- the old adage about there being no rules in love and war.

In this regard, it seems that Israel has taken taken a pragmatic approach in its battle with the Palestinian terrorists: world opinion would never support the unfettered and indiscriminate bombing of places like Gaza by the Israelis, but on the other hand, the Israelis, it seems, are not willing to abide by the Geneva Convention and normal Rules of Engagement either- and are instead, in effect saying: if you want to play dirty, then we will too to a certain degree; when it comes to morality, we will only meet you halfway and not agree to fight by the rules.

The use of drone aircraft by the U.S. in Pakistan is a similar situation: the Geneva Convention does not allow non-combatants to be deliberately targeted- but when the U.S. blows up a village that has a bunch of Taliban fighters, and in the process kills a number of sympathetic civilians that are nevertheless not combatants in the true sense of the word (children, for example), then, technically, that violates the Geneva Convention. Imagine if that policy was followed in the U.S.- a bank robber kills a bunch of people and then hides out in his home, and the police just blow up the entire house and kill anyone that is even associated with the criminal.
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So to bring this all back to the main point of this thread: how should Christians reconcile Jesus' message that Christianity is fundamentally a religion of love, with the realities that there is almost never-ending conflict in our world?

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John 6:33: "For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

Just as there was for a time a restricted Israelitish purpose in the ministry of Christ, there was a peculiar and appropriate Israelitish message. If given any consideration, the message wouldn't be confused with the world-wide proclamation of saving grace that only became possible by divine provision through the death and resurrection of Christ.

(Matt. 5:17-48) discloses Christ's own upholding of the law then in effect, and presents the legal aspect of the kingdom requirements in their clearest light. To those who comprehend little of that "grace and truth" which came by Jesus are not disturbed by the assumption of its legal character, and those of such legal mind will try and discredit as destructive any who consider that though grace we are under no obligation to its rule of conduct. All of the legal utterances of Christ were in full force when they were spoken, but Christians have been saved from the entire merit system (Rom. 6:14; 7:4, 6; 2 Cor. 3:11; Gal. 3:23-25). To contend that we are under obligation because Christ enforced it upon Jews, to whom it alone belonged and that before His death, is to contradict directly the grace teaching regarding our freedom.

In Christ,
Tracey

satan is ruling the world:Jhn 14:30 I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me, Demonic spirits influence world leaders: Dan 10:13 But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. Dan 10:20 So he said, "Do you know why I have come to you? Soon I will return to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I go, the prince of Greece will come; So Jesus said: Jhn 17:16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Christians have no business in the politics and war of Satan's world. The ancient Israelite wars were holy and commanded by God. They never killed righteous people because non-Israelite believers would have become proselytes. Today, God's people are in "every nation" meaning that Christians will kill Christians if they go to war. Modern wars are about politics and greed. Peace on earth will only come about in the millennial reign of Jesus as the "Prince of Peace".

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When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth he either ceases to be mistaken or begins to be dishonest.

Nobody has really provided a good answer yet- how should Christians, under the command of Jesus to love their neighbor, even to love their enemy, view war?

How can a Christian soldier in Afghanistan, with good conscience and moral authority, aim his rifle at another human being and shoot and kill him?

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John 6:33: "For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

Let me ask you a question:

I am your next door neighbor; an avid outdoorsman and hunter with firearms capable of taking down large game or even a man. I am also a Christian who believes that Scripture is the inerrent word of God and I live my life to reflect those values. Everybody knows it, it's no secret.

Some random evening you experience a "Hot Burglary" (a burglary where the resident is home) from a violent person who has every intent of harming you and your family then making off with your stuff. Because I'm a hunter, I also have a hunting dog with excellent ears. He barks wildly because he hears glass breaking on the house next door. Your house. I groggily wake up, wander to a window, and witness your daughter having unspeakable acts commited to her by one of these monsters, while you are bound and gagged, and the accomplice is filling bags with all of your valuables with one hand, while the other holds a pistol to your head.

As a Christian, should I go grab my Remington .300 Savage; the same Remington .300 Savage that has successfully downed nearly 100 deer and a handful of antelop (it was passed down from my father, so not all of the credit goes to me), then put the cross hairs on the rapists head, and pull the trigger? Then eject the spent round and do the same to his partner? An act likely to save the life of you and your family?

Or instead, should I respect that you live on private property, and mind my own business? After all, as a Christian how can I possibly; with good conscience and moral authority, aim my rifle at another human being and pull the trigger and kill him?

In this case, please don't hesitate to shoot the criminals and help my family. Charity only goes so far- I don't recall in the Bible that Jesus ever interfered to stop anyone from carrying out their duties against criminals.

But please don't blow the whole house up just because there's an unwelcome criminal present.

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John 6:33: "For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

There is no reason for a Christian to leave a career that would require them to take life. There is no hate issue here. We must remember that many godly men and women have been used by God for His perfect purposes in ways that included taking life (David, Gideon, Samson for examples). God even commanded war to be waged.

One could argue (and I would) that we should step in first in the cause of those suffering from injustice and tyranny no matter the personal cost. War is a necessary thing due to the evil in the world. I do not relish it, but understand it as a worthy endeavor when the cause is just. I believe the war on terror is a just war and that it was started decades ago by our enemies. I have never regretted my service.

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If guns cause violence keyboards cause typos. Only the naive believe objects are capable of conscious acts.

All sorts of surprises can occur when the preacher takes the Bible seriously. Leander keck in The Bible in the Pulpit

" Whenever any form of government is destructive of these ends [life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness] it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government in such form as to them shall seem most likely to affect their safety and happiness.” Declaration of Independence, 1776

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Gideon's army was reduced from 32000 to 300. So not everyone is called to fight a war.

Romans134 For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.

So you are judge jury and executor all in one. What if it turned out to be her boyfriend and she did not want him killed? You do not need deadly force to stop someone. I might be tempted to shoot him in a place where he could never rape a women again.