Now I know we are all sinners but shouldn't the Christian Church stand up against any killing that is going on, be it against us or from us......? I personally believe that the mainstream media has changed the way we think and we look at them more as ' suggestions ' than commandments. Your thoughts?
2006-09-18 09:45:43 · 14 answers · asked by The Angry Stick Man 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I believe a more common translation of that commandment is, "Thou shalt not commit murder." Which is an entirely different thing, if you think about it.
Examples abound of God calling this people or that in the bible to actually go to war or to kill groups or individuals. Obviously killing is not really the problem... just INAPPROPRIATE killing.
But I think you're right to some degree. There seems to be a lot of killing going on that's rather inappropriate in the worlds. I read a rather good editorial this morning where a minister encourages people not only to pray for our troops (as is on so many bumper stickers) but to also pray for our enemies (as Christ himself encouraged in the Sermon on the mount). I put a link below if you want to read the full text of that article.
2006-09-18 09:53:11 · answer #1 · answered by Doctor Why 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I can not reconcile the idea of Christian soldiers - that too me seems to be the biggest breach of that commandment. I can see the political necessity of soldiers and when a lot of the population is Christian it is easy to see how it happens, but THOU SHALT NOT KILL. #1 commandment.
I don't think the media has had as much to do with it as the governments and military branches have. Marines say God Country Family (in that order, right?) are the priorities, and then they don't obey the 1st commandment. I say it is shocking. And it is those soldiers who are often fundamentalists in so many ways and carefully turning a blind eye to this glaring hypocracy.
Peace!
NO - the commandments now are open to interpretation? You don't get clearer than Thou Shalt Not Kill - period. And what do you call it when a village of innocent people gets killed during a military action? I call that murder.
2006-09-18 16:55:31 · answer #2 · answered by carole 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Those commandment that particularly effect others, such as " Thou shall not kill" Thou shall not steal" , " bare false witness" are covered under the law through imprisonment, and other commandments like " thou shall not commit adultery" although no one is going to get 80 lashes, if the action is the cause of the break up of a marriage, it could have severe legal, and so financial consequences.
So the Commandments are not suggestions, but are part of western law to varying degrees, depending on the degree they effect others.
The military is considered different, because the people that they are fighting in combat, are armed and can also kill. So it is seen as a fair fight.
That is why suicide bombers that kill innocent people are cowards, because they did not kill anyone that could fight back.
2006-09-18 17:18:55 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, this is kind of a fuzzy commandment since God did a lot of killing in the Old Testament (great flood, Egypt, Soddam and Ghamorra, etc). God also commanded a lot of killing in the Old Testament - at one point even instructing the Jews to kill every man, woman, and child in the land they were invading. Death was also the prescribed punishment for a wide variety of crimes in Jewish society.
God definately sent some mixed messages regarding "Thou Shalt Not Kill". Kind of a "do as I say, not as I do" kind of thing, I guess.
So, regarding the commandments: To paraphrase Captain Barbosa from Pirates of the Carribean, "They're really more like guidelines!"
2006-09-18 17:06:14 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
My opinion on this is simply that the commandments were created out of common sense. I try to follow them, even though - for personal reasons - I'm not a Christian. I believe they were meant as more than "suggestions" and I take them very seriously. Yes, i think mainstream media has watered them down significantly. Following them litterally has made me a better person and i've lived a better life. Forcing myself not to want or envy what others have has made me cherish what i do have even more and has given me a satisfying life and i'm happy for what i work for. i'm obviously not going to go out and cheat on my boyfriend and i honor my parents a great deal though we often disagree. i honor God, though i'm not a Christian, and i show respect to other religions in turn though i don't "worship" their gods. As for killing, i'm in the millitary and I realize that should i be deployed I might have to kill someone to defend myself or someone else, and I'll have no regrets doing so. Things like that were acceptable in the bible, so I believe that isn't breaking said commandment.
2006-09-18 16:59:18 · answer #5 · answered by Kitty Corpse 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I truly do believe Christians should stand against any killing of other people. It is not only in the Ten Commandments given by God himself, but also in Jesus's commandment to love one another. It is also against our innate moral core to kill or cause death to a fellow person.
This is more than standing against war, abortion, or capital punishment. It is also important that we do not willfully neglect or ignore issues like genocides in Africa, poverty all over the world, those recovering from natural disasters, high suicide rates among certain demographics, and any other issues that cause death in this world.
We cannot prevent all wrongful deaths on our own. But everyone (not only Christians) should work to prevent as much as we can. It is the right thing to do.
2006-09-18 16:55:45 · answer #6 · answered by JG 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
What type of killing are you insinuating about? What mainstream media has changed the way we think about it as mere suggestions than commandments?
" Thou shall not Kill" is meant to be followed literallly. and the Society's law has complied with that. It even emphatically emphasized that no one shall take the law into your own hands. Most Christians are even trying to present their resentment to death sentence even to criminals who has done the most hideous crime. For me honestly that resentment would only give more power to the criminals or evil to proliferate. An eye for an eye and tooth for tooth is not meant for a vengeful way of handling evil deeds personally but a proper way to execute justice to a crime committed and purging evil in the most human way possible under its laws.
If you are talking about the war in the Middle East, I have to agree with you that it is a senseless act of killing but since it is our leader who made those decisions, our actions could only be enforced through expressing our dissenting opinions and hope that it may reach them and have a change of hearts.
2006-09-18 17:10:06 · answer #7 · answered by Rallie Florencio C 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's truly hypocritical when a Christian states an obscure line in the Bible to condemn homosexuality, and yet opposes one of the 10 Commandments by supporting this war. Why is it that these Christians pick and choose what they want to follow in the Bible?
2006-09-18 16:52:21 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
If christians actually believed in the 10 commandments, none of them would volunteer for military service. Taking action that you know is certain to kill civilians is murder no matter how you look at it.
2006-09-18 16:49:11 · answer #9 · answered by lenny 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
True. Everyone discounts everything the Bible says and denegrates it every chance they get. As far as the "thou shalt not kill," Jesus said "if you have hate in your heart against your brother, you have already committed murder" (something on those lines). So, if that's the standard, then everyone has already committed murder in their hearts. We are all guilty of this.
2006-09-18 16:52:27 · answer #10 · answered by blizgamer333 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋