Do you believe all Christians should be pacifists?

Question

Why or why not?

Answer 1

no. there is a time for christians to stand up and do what is right. norman geisler talks about this in his book. "Christian Ethics". Christians are allowed, and sometimes it is their duty, to fend off evil where it exists. i have noticed that the best answer person talks about the commandment "thou shalt not kill". it actually says "thou shalt not murder". those are 2 different things. killing can be self defense, murder is premeditated and for no good reason. surely christians should have stood up to the german war machine slaughtering millions of jews?

Answer 2

The "official line" stated by the oldest and most powerful sects of christianity is that true christians should always be pacifists and opposed to violence...

Then again, the occassional firebrand preacher advocates the destruction of the non-believing enemy.

However, let us look at just how credible this "official claim" of pacifist and peaceful Vatican really is.

(1) The Vatican is the most powerful entity to ever exist in history- it was and still is the most wealthy organization in human history for over 1400 years.
See
http://one-faith-of-god.org/final_testament/end_of_darkness/truth/truth_0020.htm

(2) The Vatican is directly and indirectly responsible for more death, misery and violence than any other organization in human history- with no one coming even close.
See
http://one-faith-of-god.org/final_testament/end_of_darkness/evil/evil_0200.htm

So the "official line" really turns out to be just a thin PR campaign usually run by apologists pushing the claim that they love peace and hate war. History tells us otherwise. If only people read more history...

Answer 3

Ok how this got onto bashing of the Catholic Church I do not see and since I am Catholic actually rarely ever posts actually what the Church teaches on a subject (yes he post Catechism but posts ones that he/she thinks when the actual subject has been addressed and has an official teaching) I will give you the official Catholic response, Just War.

The Just War theory has been around since ancient greece and was brought into Chritianity by Augustine in the 400s. Christians have always grappled with this oproblem as Christ actually was pacifist so we should be and we are constantly told to be throughout the bible. However we live in a flawed world and the common collective good is more important then one single man, and wars will come. What should Christians do about it? John the Baptist had told the Roman soilders to kept their swords, Jesus said to sell your mantle if you had no sword, there is a time to every purpose. Including war.

So how do Christian's reconcile this conflicting statement, with the development of the Just War doctrine. Now the Just War doctrine is incredibly long but if you google it, it comes up with brief descriptions of the criteria Just Ad Bello (Just prewar), Just in Bello (Just during War), Just Post Bello (Just ending of war). They are very specific guidelines and criteria that has to be met for being considered a Just War. Which by the way no war in the 20th or 21st century has been considered a Just War (WWII started as a Just War (allowed by the doctrine of faith but did not remain Just according to the way it was fought, particularly the fire bombings of Japanese cities).

In his encyclical Pacem in Terris (Peace on Earth) John XXIII wrote that with modern technology warfare and it's potential for destruction had reached a point where no war could ever meet the Just War guideline. The offficial writings on war can be read in Gaudium Et Spes (the Pastoral Constitution on the Church and the Modern World).

The Catholics are the only Church (besides the Amish, Quakers, and Mennonites) that have a written doctrine actually condeming and forbidding by faith people going to war. Catholics have repeatedly sued in the Supreme Court for conscientious objector status as their faith does not allow them to fight wars considered unjust. They have not be granted it because the Just War theory allows for war in very very specific cases (and Catholics are the largest Christian religion in the world almost 1/5 of the world Christians which would take away a huge fighting base if allow). However with a volunteer military Catholics are the only religion that is underrepresented in the military compared to their percentage of population. Catholics are over 50% less likely to join the military or support a war then any other Christian religion.

Answer 4

Of course. That's the hard, scary part that's the main point of Jesus' instructions, where most fail. I count myself, unfortunately, among most. Not that I try to justify it, but I must acknowledge, that when challenged, i tumble right into the drama of that, and have usually already responded before I notice that I've lost consciousness, really, and the animal part, the lioness, is running the show. Only a matter of seconds, maybe, but you can do plenty damage in a few seconds. This is why awareness is such a worthy pursuit.

Answer 5

No I do not!!!

Catholics try to shove this down the throats of Christians. However, the Catholics do not control the world. They believe the ex-Nazi pope would create a world power. As you know, the free world defeated the Nazi hordes.

A yes answer here is the same reason the Catholics were silent when the Nazis murdered six million Jews. Throw all the Catholic web sites at us; but the six million will still be dead.

With real love in Christ

Answer 6

Yes.

If everyone was a true Christian then all Christians should be pacifists.

Unfortunately everyone is not a true Christian and society has to protect itself.

The commandment "You shall not kill" forbids direct and intentional killing as gravely sinful. The murderer and those who cooperate voluntarily in murder commit a sin that cries out to heaven for vengeance. (Gen 4:10)

Killing in self defense, a just war, and lawful capital punishment are not considered murder.

However many Christians including Catholics believe most modern governments no longer need to use capital punishment to protect society from criminals.

With love in Christ.