Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: dhosek@hmcvax.claremont.edu (Don Hosek) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Just War Theory Message-ID: Date: 3 Jun 91 06:30:49 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: Quixote Digital Typography Lines: 72 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article , krueger@writeon.physics.arizona.edu (Theodore Krueger) writes: > In article > dhosek@euler.claremont.edu (Don Hosek) writes >>In my opinion the death of one innocent person is too high a price >>to pay for any cause, especially if we are going to claim the titles >>of Christian and children of Abraham. > Three comments on the above statement: > 1) What would you do if the government wanted to execute all christians > for not wearing the mark of the beast? Would you watch your children > die? Would you fight back? If I fought back, it would be more a sign of weakness than of faith. You ask for Biblical quotations to support my perspective, here are a few: John 18,10-11 (TEV): Simon Peter, who had a sword drew it and struck the High Priest's slave, cutting off his right ear. THe name of the slave was Malchus. Jesus said to Peter, "Put your sword back in its place! Do you think that I will not drink the cup of suffering which my Father has given me?" (See also, the parallels: Matthew 26,51-52; Mark 14,47-48 (the only passage which doesn't have Jesus rebuking the eager disciple); Luke 22,49-51 (note that here Jesus _helps_ one of those in the arresting party!)). All throughout Acts. Name one case where the apostles reacted with violence to their persecution. Better yet, since you bring up the mark of the beast, name one place in Revelations. Read Daniel. Where are the Jews reacting with violence to the Babylonians? How about coming up with quotations to indicate your apparent perspective that under persecution, God's people should seek to kill their oppressors? Non-violence doesn't mean giving in to evil. It means speaking out against it. It means being saying that there's something wrong about a parade that features weapons of mass destruction as a big attraction, but doesn't even mention the _Americans_ that died let alone the thousands of Iraqis, Kurds, Palestinians and Kuwaitis. > 2) Do you own an automobile? Thousands of innocent people are killed every > year for the _cause_ of rapid transportation. What's your point? Are these people being murdered so that cars and highways can be manufactured. If I were aware, that car company X employed such practices in the manufacture of its automobiles, I wouldn't buy their cars and I'd do my best to make others aware of this so they wouldn't. Or perhaps you're referring to automobile accidents. Does my owning a car somehow contribute to the accidental death of someone in New Jersey? I am a reluctanct car owner (and only for five months at that). I drive as little as I can, use gasahol, and lobby for public transportation. You do what you can. > 3) You are completely entitled to your opinion, but in order to convince me, > you must present scriptural evidence that God wants us to be pacifistic > as you claim. How about scriptural evidence that he *doesn't*? -dh Don Hosek dhosek@ymir.claremont.edu Quixote Digital Typography 714-625-0147