That is the hypothetical question my mentor asked me back in 1982. Recently, he had led me to Christ at my college and was training me to follow Christ through Bible reading, prayer, fellowship, evangelism, worship, and obedience.
He was a retired nuclear engineer from the US Navy, approved by Admiral Rickover to be part of the submarine fleet officer core. He had been in the chain of command to "nuke the Ruskies" on his sub. He would have pushed the button if the US ordered him. Obviously, that order never came.
I came from a very different background, I had been an agnostic Catholic (a mix of my mother and father), and conscientious objector regarding the US Draft, and a pacifist since high school. I found his question very disturbing and couldn't answer it at the time. I had to wrestle with this issue for a while before I made my decision.
How about you? Would you nuke whoever your country considers its enemy if God told you?
Likewise, if God ordered you to violate your conscience in some other way, would you?
He was a retired nuclear engineer from the US Navy, approved by Admiral Rickover to be part of the submarine fleet officer core. He had been in the chain of command to "nuke the Ruskies" on his sub. He would have pushed the button if the US ordered him. Obviously, that order never came.
I came from a very different background, I had been an agnostic Catholic (a mix of my mother and father), and conscientious objector regarding the US Draft, and a pacifist since high school. I found his question very disturbing and couldn't answer it at the time. I had to wrestle with this issue for a while before I made my decision.
How about you? Would you nuke whoever your country considers its enemy if God told you?
Likewise, if God ordered you to violate your conscience in some other way, would you?