Anthony Martin’s comments on Choosing The Fittest, prompted me to write this post. It felt it was too interesting to leave it hidden in the comments, away from the many eyes of my faithful readers.
Although it certainly speaks to our humanity, I’m not sure the disparity in numbers can be used as a valid argument for or against any type of killing. Still, there certainly is a difference between abortion, euthanasia, and other nefarious harvesters of life, and the death that comes as a consequence of war, specifically, a just war.
It is interesting to note that many theologians (liberal and conservative alike) fall into the “Thou shalt not kill” trap, believing that anyone that participates in a war is automatically breaking this commandment. The original language suggests that a better reading would be “You shall not murder”. There is a definite distinction between killing in war and murder.
Lest we use only one argument to dismiss the arguments of the ill informed, it is also important to look at the context in which the commandment was given. It would make very little sense for God to command his people not to participate in war, and then send them to war with thousands of people in the area.
One final thought, it is also quite unintelligible to claim that as Christians we must refrain from eating animals because we are prohibited from killing! The context of, hmm, the entire Bible forbids this interpretation by any but the most liberal or self-convinced of theologians.