Are they sinning or not?

[bpitt]

So, are our soldiers sinning or not? 'Thou shall not kill.' What about in self-defense, protecting country, is that sin? I struggle with this thought daily.

[58ford]

I believe that a more accurate translation would be "Murder" rather than "Kill".
Lots of people get killed in the Bible, but it's murder that gets punished.

[onlyme]

So, are our soldiers sinning or not? 'Thou shall not kill.' What about in self-defense, protecting country, is that sin? I struggle with this thought daily.

I don't think one can generalize as in "our soldiers". Some do sin ( like the ones who tortured prisoners or raped and killed civilians ) others don't. IMO the war in Iraq was started under false pretenses but the soldiers who are there had no say about it. I strongly believe that the vast majority of them intend to fight terrorism and make life better for the Iraqis and that in itself cannot be a sin.

[58ford]

Though I disagree somewhat with Onlyme's views on the war, I agree that within any group of people you will have sinners, but in general fighting the war does not make a soldier a sinner.

[politically incorrect]

Several times in the Old Testament, God instructed the Israelites to go into "enemy" cities and kill every man, woman, child and beast. I suppose it makes a difference if you are fighting on the side of righteousness or not.

[Hermione]

I'm thinking of the wonderful movie of the story of Alvin York, starring Gary Cooper, where this question was the central issue.

[58ford]

I'm thinking of the wonderful movie of the story of Alvin York, starring Gary Cooper, where this question was the central issue.
One of my favorite war movies. Right up there with "To Hell & back" with Audy Murphy & "the Bridge on the River Quai"

[HorseWhisperer]

Obeying the Lord means obeying your government and if your in the Army its kill or be killed... but really i guess we will jus have to wait and see.

[cubby 1]

Several times in the Old Testament, God instructed the Israelites to go into "enemy" cities and kill every man, woman, child and beast. I suppose it makes a difference if you are fighting on the side of righteousness or not.

This was in the Old Testament... We are under New Testament law.

[kevin]

I believe they are fighting for whatever their Individual beliefs are as I know the same can be said for those they are fighting. If our Nations Leaders put as much hard work in fighting between partys and tried to find a resolution to this wars end then this war would be over .I'm sure there's common ground to make peace we all believe in something just differant things.Belief in Christ leads me to believe that peace is not only possible.It's necessary! I'll leave Jugement up to my GOD!

[petalgirl00]

No, they arent sinning. Alot of good that isnt seen on tv is being done over in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Muslims and Christians have been at war since essentially the beginning of time.

[Bluesman]

This was in the Old Testament... We are under New Testament law.
True dat, but read Revelations... Supposed to be a big one there in the end and Jesus himself is gonna join the fight.

[bpitt]

Thanks for ya'lls posts. I tend to stick to the King James version, and it says 'Thou shall not kill", not, "Thou shall not murder". But, I also see where there are wars and fightings and killings, etc., and God seems okay with those particular battles. That's why I'm somewhat confused, I guess. I tend to think our guys are NOT sinning, but "Thou shall not kill" seems wide open to me.

[bpitt]

Funny thing is, I used to not worry about this stuff, till I had kids. Funny what having children will cause you to do, think, and worry about.

[58ford]

This was in the Old Testament... We are under New Testament law.
True, and I am not much of a Bible scholar, but when asked if he had come to do away with the law, didn't Jesus reply, "I have not come to take one whit away from the law."?

[onlyme]

Obeying the Lord means obeying your government and if your in the Army its kill or be killed... but really i guess we will jus have to wait and see.

You equal obedience to God with obedience to the government? Is just our government "godlike" then ( sometimes they seem to think so....) or all governments? Were Saddam Hussein's henchmen obeying God because they obeyed their government?

[HorseWhisperer]

Im sorry :( i guess what i said doesnt really make sense... :(

[chaz]

I tend to stick to the King James version, and it says 'Thou shall not kill", not, "Thou shall not murder".

Just because its KJV doesn't mean that we can take it in the same context. Words don't always have the same meaning they did 400 years ago.

[threekidspa]

Just because its KJV doesn't mean that we can take it in the same context. Words don't always have the same meaning they did 400 years ago.

Exactly, nor do they always translate well (which may or may not make a difference in this case).

Something else Jesus said was we're to "Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's...". He's talking about more than just taxes....if you've joined the military, its your commitment to serve, and the possibility of having to kill is part of the job description. There's also a long Old Testament lesson about how God's people even came to be governed by 'kings' in the first place, but it boils down to it being something we asked for, and He said ok, but you have to follow your king's laws as well as Mine.

I don't think reconciling that commandment with the obligations you take on to follow lawful orders in OUR military makes you a sinner.

[chaz]

Yup. My dad's friend (a Baptist preacher, w/ a masters in theology) always thought the "women wear dresses, not pants" to church thing was stupid. He said that some preachers found a passage to justify this thinking.

Supposedly the passage is talking about head wear. As he pointed out "Jesus wears a dress in every picture I've seen."