Is it moral to kill in time of war?

Question

Jess said those who live by the sword would die by it actually. He identified the ruler of this world.satan who stirs people and nations to hatred and conquest in the name of whatever. Because nationalism is akin to religion religous and political leaders can convince people the blood they spill is santioned by god.

Answer 1

You're darn right it's moral if you're on the side of right.

Whoever "Jess" is, disregard his mumbo-jumbo.

Answer 2

killing is killing.it is a matter of how you have been influenced or condition to think.the religious wars have been some of the most violent in history,pound for pound.nationalism is one of the major causes of wars.over 5000 wars in the have been documented,and still going.i believe that humanity has taken a wrong turn down a one way street.of course terrorism is a MAJOR concern,but it exists in ones own neighborhood,in a sense,self interest.my yard your yard,my state,your state,my belief your belief,and so on..........it is obvious that separatism is not the answer,has mankind said stop, just what the hell is going on,really?we as humans have brought about so many good things in medicine,technology,and science,but why is it we can't come together and feed the world as a whole?separatism,and self interest.things are out of hand,and humanity can only come up with a quick fix.
to look without judgment,without the wanting or not wanting to know is one of the most beautiful wonders that man has over looked,and most likely continue to do so.

Answer 3

Killing is never a good thing nor is war. But there may be circumstances when after you have exhausted every peaceful means of stopping a wrong there is no alternative.
For instance a woman being attacked by a man who wants to rape her. She must do everything she can to stop him and if necessary, take his life.
This is not a good thing. Is it moral, yes. Is it the best outcome, no.
But you speak of war. And you speak gobbledegook about something or other and some girl Jess. Come back with a more clear question. please

Answer 4

It's a worthy question, though I think you might need to get some sleep.

Morality, in this context, has to be self-defined. Christians would probably define it as per something in their doctrine, and their doctrine has an awfully bloody history, as does the Old Testament.

So war, if a religious doctrine is the measuring device, would probably be moral for Christians, Jews, Mormons, and Muslims. That's probably how most of the killing during the 20th Century was justified, made moral to the participants.

In fact, the same probably applied to the butchery all over Asia by the Japanese during the 30s and 40s. The Shinto religion would have made it immoral for them not to do whatever struck the fancy of the rulers.

When the Japanese army was slaughtering, enslaving, raping, looting, burning buzzillions of Chinese, Koreans, Filipino, Malayan and Burmese, the part of it that involved actual fighting-type killing was definitely moral, while the torture of enemy prisoners, the raping of conquered citizenry females might have been on shakey moral ground.

I'm not certain how Germans, today, might secretly feel about the war-time killing of as many Jews as they could catch. They repented as soon as they were forced to do so by invading armies and felt middling ashamed of the entire episode. But probably at the time they didn't believe slaughtering all those people was immoral, and probably that moral judgement was somehow based on their Christian beliefs.

There are various schools of thought about the decision by Harry Truman to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to force the surrender of the Japanese.

One body of opinion, many Japanese among them, believe it was an immoral decision to do so. That's the reason so many of the the US prisoners of war who were incarcerated in Japan, many who'd only been tortured until then, were be-headed the day after the Hiroshima burst.

Another body of opinion, many ex-prisoners of war among them, believed Harry Truman was immoral for allowing the surrender of Japan before adding Tokyo, Yokasuka, and Yokohama to the list of cities to experience the dawn of the atomic age.

Another viewpoint suggests the US would have been on more solid moral ground by arming, equipping and transporting every Filipino, Chinese, Korean, Manchurian, Indo-Chinese and Malayan male who wished to participate in the invasion of the Japanese island, allowing the US fleet to sail home and the newly manufactured atomic bombs to draw dust in some ammo dump. This would have allowed the moral killing of a far larger part of the Japanese population, probably the castrating of every Japanese male, and the raping of every Japanese female, but without the immoral use of atomic weapons.

All in all I'd say the morality of war-time killing is determined by whether the killing's done by the winning side, or the losing one.

Answer 5

Like most people, you are laboring under a misconception that has been promoted by one of our leading religions ...

God never said,'Thou Shall Not Kill' , what He actually said to Moshe was, "You Shall Do No Murder" ... an entirely different thing, with an entirely different mindset .....

If He had said not to Kill, and then told Elijah to go and kill the 450 Prophets of Ba'al, He would have been contradicting Himself, and God cannot do that .......

Answer 6

Never...if God would hypothetically ask you to take someone else's life...why would He make it forbidden in the first place?? People should have the gift to be able to distinguish between demons who trick them by twisting the truth...as a Christian I would ask God to make what he asks of me, clear to me...the blible conradicts murder thus it is not God that is present in the senseless murder of others for a dominant ideology to say say dominant...

Answer 7

War isn't a question of morality to a soldier. It is a question of duty, and a matter of survival. Right or wrong wouldn't mean squat to a dead man.

Answer 8

Are you a Moral Absolutist, Relativist, or Situationalist?

Answer 9

there has never been a good war or a bad peace. this speaks for itself. war means death , murder and crime. people fight because they want to win. by any means. murder is one of them.

Answer 10

"a criminal or a cop, when your on the end of a gun - whats the difference?"