does the commandment "thy shalt not kill" apply to our troops in war time?

Question

my brother-in-law say's that they are murderers and also the people that sent them over there!! i need bible verses to back it up.

Answer 1

1 Timothy 6:12: Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

Psalm 35:1-3 1 Contend, O LORD, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me. 2 Take up shield and buckler; arise and come to my aid. 3 Brandish spear and javelin against those who pursue me. Say to my soul, "I am your salvation."

These are just a few that give insight as to what God feels about war. When it is a just fight, killing is expected. Christians are expected to defend themselves when sent to war by any nation.

Answer 2

The commandment is "Thou shalt not murder" in the most direct translation. There is a difference:

Kill: taking a life

Murder: Taking a life for profit or personal gain

Soldiers do not commit murder (with a few exceptions).

The bible is full of situations where God has supported wars. Look at David and Goliath, Joshua at Jericho, Sadom and Gamorreah and on and on.

Furthurmore if your brother in law wants to guilt both the soldiers and those who sent them there, what about his tax dollars that bought the bullets? He is part of it too.

The reality is that US soldiers are in Iraq defending those who cannot defend themselves, like they always have.

Answer 3

Look at a concordance (like a dictionary) in the back of most bibles, it has locations for hundreds of verses related to war, and killing or death. I agree with what the people here said also.
True the bible doesnt condone murder (on most instances) however our troops are not there to murder anyone. The last thing we want to do it kill anyone.

Answer 4

It is true the bible was translated wrong. THOU SHALT NOT MURDER......like Cain did to Able. Killing is different. King David was one of GODs favorites and he killed just about everyone that crossed his path. It wasnt until he murdered a man to get to his wife that he lost GODs favor. Also read the book of Joshua. He does kill everyone that the Jews come across, except one city that tricks him. When he realizes he was tricked he still does not murder them because he gave them his word.
MURDER: to end a life for no reason save pleasure or profit.
The reasons we are in Iraq may be shaded with lies and deception but what we are doing there is helping people that could not help themselves against a sadistic tyrant and his sons who were even worse than he was, much like we did with Hitler in WWII. I believe it is EZECHIAL 23:30 where a call goes out to " someone to stand in the gap , to stand up for those who cannot " its paraphrased but i believe that is the general idea......isnt that what our soldiers have always done ...stand up for those who cannot?
here is another quote forget the source
" All it takes for EVIL to triumph is for GOOD men to do nothing"

Answer 5

First of all the commandment is "THOU shalt not kill", not thy. The commandment refers to murdering in cold blood. Self defense is justified by most but not all religions. If killing was not totally allowed then why did Moses kill all of those Egyptians that were pursuing them in the sea?

Answer 6

Then read the bible, it will enlighten you on what to believe. Your brother-in-law sounds like the type of guy who would look for a biblical verse that supports his objectives. One verse does not the bible make. In other words, there are many stories and explanations in the bible, that say otherwise to slaying thy enemy.

Answer 7

Don't try to argue a point such as this with biblical phrases, the book is so large that many phrases can be taken out of their context.

If he is a christian, then he is favoring the new testament, which does have it's pacifist element, but only an extreme interpretation of that philosophy leads to such a conclusion as your in-laws.

Really it's a no win argument, no right or wrong when it comes to religious debates, but.......if you really want some carnage read Numbers 31, Moses orders the killing of men women and children.

Answer 8

Sorry but what is with all these questions, its “Thy Shall not MURDER” murder is very different.
In the bible God had His people fight many brutal wars against people that would not obey Him and were doing unusually bad things, in some of these wars and battles He told them to not spare one life, not women or child. God does not love war or killing, but sometimes it is necessary though to preserve our selves. And I would entirely agree with TexasTrev, a very good answer.
Read the Bible you'll get some more answers there.
Hope it Helps.

Answer 9

What a C!!!! sucker! Sorry I had to say it, but really in the bible there are many old testament wars and basically it says God fights on the side of those who obey Him. I had someone tell me that they hoped my husband died in Iraq and that he was a baby killer(which is just plain ignorant if you know what goes on) I am tired of people claiming they know the message of God and then turning it around to hurt others. We are trying not to kill people in Iraq we are trying to stop them from killing us and each other. So basically how is keeping peace against the will of God? and FYI they don't get to just shoot they have to be shot at first. Tell him he is a coward, and weak cause that's all I see in people like that.

Answer 10

Tell your brother to go hug another tree. Better yet, maybe him and Al Gore can reinvent the internet! I am about sick of you liberal *** wipes that have NEVER spent one day in uniform but have an opnion of whats right and just in time of war. Murder is a lot diffrent from war time. Murder is what the insurgents do to women and children. Protection is what our men and women do for those who cannot protect themselves. I will leave you woth this:
People sleep peacefully in their beds at night because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.
George Orwell
Semper Fi

Answer 11

Did you know that it was misinterpreted? it was meant thy shalt not murder there is a difference in murder and kill murder is the taking of a man or woman's life for revenge, valuables, and whatnot. Killing such as war is different that is justified because your killing to save a fellow man of women or men or women to save lives or to keep someone safe such as self defense if you will.