How can you be a good Christian and promote war at the same time?

Question

God will judge you.

Only a fool would call a question a statement.

How can you be a good Christian and promote the war in Iraq?

montanacowg, doesn't god decide who dies and when? aren't our lives on earth trivial? who is man to decide when other men should die?

Who incited David to count the fighting men of Israel?

(a) God did (2 Samuel 24: 1)

(b) Satan did (I Chronicles 2 1:1)

In that count how many fighting men were found in Israel?

(a) Eight hundred thousand (2 Samuel 24:9)

(b) One million, one hundred thousand (IChronicles 21:5)

Answer 1

How? By having selective amnesia about the verses that say you're supported to love your neighbor and have some humility and resist not evil

Answer 2

The short answer is that Romans 13:1-5 expressly gives the government the right to use force to enforce justice (a similar passage is found in 1 Peter 2:13-16). There are also passages in the Old Testament where God ordered the nation of Israel to go to war for justice’s sake.

Most Christians irregardless of their denomination seem to believe in the “Just War Doctrine”. I believe that it was first suggested by Bishop Augustine of Hippo (Saint Augustine). Here is a summary from paragraph 2309 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

"The strict conditions for legitimate defense by military force require rigorous consideration. The gravity of such a decision makes it subject to rigorous conditions of moral legitimacy. At one and the same time:
•the damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave, and certain;
•all other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective;
•there must be serious prospects of success;
•the use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated. The power of modern means of destruction weighs very heavily in evaluating this condition.

These are the traditional elements enumerated in what is called the "just war" doctrine. The evaluation of these conditions for moral legitimacy belongs to the prudential judgment of those who have responsibility for the common good."

BTW, I'm not Catholic; I just though that they summarized it the best.

Notice that the Ten Commandments do not forbid killing; the Bible forbids MURDER. Murder seems to be defined as "the spilling of innocent blood." (Deuteronomy 19:10-13). Therefore governments have the right to take life if justice calls for it (Genesis 9:6).

Answer 3

There is waring inside of each one of us to choose between good and evil, between darkness and light. But our hearts too often choose evil.

Your question is flawed in the since of what is the pretense to war?
There is war in the spiritual world so as long as their is evil then there will be wars. Since there is evil in the hearts of men there will be wars.

One can not always allow the evil in the hearts of men to take away form the innocent. At some point even if it is just a single voice, one must fight for what is right.

Unless evil is okay and there doesn't need to be anything worth fighting for.

I however do believe that there are somethings in this life worth fighting for. The difference is knowing what is worth it and what isn't.

If guilty of a sin then I will stand accountable. But if right what will some others be accountable for?

Answer 4

If you are a Christian and just let people walk all over you and dominate you and take your land and just smile and say things like, "peace and love," what sort of a real person is that?
GET REAL, sometimes hard decisions have to be made.
What about all the people who suffered under Saddam, it seems like that was OK was it? Have you all got such short memories?
People were tortured, and you lot all say, " Oh peace and love"!
Well life is not like that and wicked dictators have to be dealt with.
Sometimes war is necessary as we cannot let people steal our freedoms from us.
All those who disagree would be the first to complain if the Muslims took over and women were not allowed to work, men all had to grow beards, women had to cover them selves up in public, living under shia law would be a reality, and that would be hell.
Freedom is worth fighting for and yes sometimes Christians have to fight, life is not all, "peace and love"!

Answer 5

Killing isn't always murder. Supporting isn't always promoting. It's not hypocrisy to support war when war is necessary. Of course, that just begs the question- when is war necessary?

PS- I think that dude was trying to say that only a fool would make the statement that war is good, not that your question was a statement and that you were foolish. But I could be wrong. I have been once before.

Answer 6

Don't necessarily consider myself a "Good Christian" but do try and carry my cross daily and serve Christ and my fellow humans. I think war sucks but also understand at time we must love others enough to defend them from evil. We as humans can't stop caring about each other or certainly we are doomed. I wish people, especially people who only now our sick god abusing form of western Christianity were not being killed before the true gospel of Christ could be shown and told to them. Sin sucks and it hurts an aw full lot of people.

Answer 7

I do not promote war. War is never a good thing, and should always be the last resort.
but sometimes, on this planet, war is necessary. think of the Nazis, how much good did diplomacy do to stop them? if I see someone being opressed and treated cruelly, will God not judge me for ignoring it? think of the American Revolution. should we have ended the war and bowed down to British rule?
so to answer your question, there are times when I accept war. but I do not promote it.

Answer 8

Because, since God Himself set us free, we have the God Given responsibilty to "set the captives free".

It would be selfish for us to sit back and enjoy the God given gift of freedom, while others suffer at the hand of tyrannists.

Before you ask such questions, you should think....Should we not have intervened in Germany? Should we have set idly by as Hitler murdered 6,000,000,000 Jews?
How shall we then sit back and allow others dictators to rape, mutilate and murder other innocents?

Or are you saying that YOU should be the one who decides who should be free and who not?

NO LIFE IS TRIVIAL! Not even the lives of the tyrannists. We pity them. But that does not mean we are to allow unlawfulness to abound!
~ ~ We have eyes, ears, and minds, and if we were to turn blindly any of these to the cries of innocent blood? then we also will be held accountable for their death.

Answer 9

There is no guarantee that one of my brothers may not be fighting on the other side. How in the world can we show this indisputable love amongst ourselves if we are killing each other just like everyone else? I would not kill my brother for anything!
There is a religion that will not war for any reason. The name of the excellent article is ."CHRISTIANITY IN ACTION Amid Turmoil".

If you want to see real Christianity in action, please read on here! http://www.watchtower.org/library/w/1998/1/15/article_01.htm

Answer 10

There is a time and place for all things. Even war. With war comes peace and freedom. Back in the bible writing days, there were wars. God even instructed some.