Should members of the Church of God go to war?

[ChrisF202]

Originally Posted by gunnut

Make them medics so they don't have to carry guns. I'm sure they are more than happy to care for the wounded.

I am pretty sure that even medics are armed, im not sure about in the past but I am quite sure that most current militaries arm their medics with at least pistols if not rifles (our US Army and USMC medics/corpsmen carry rifles).

As for the religious aspect, I feel that everyone who is fit for military service should be required to serve their country only during extreme emergencies and all other times should be voluntary ... so yes I think members of the Church of God should go to war.

[THL]

I think that anyone who is not at least willing to fight for their country, should not be protected by that country and by those that are fighting for it.

[Ryan Bailey]

"Let us beat our plowshares into swords"

Christ "Bringeth not peace but a sword"

God Wills It

[tim52]

Originally Posted by gunnut

Make them medics so they don't have to carry guns. I'm sure they are more than happy to care for the wounded.

I gotta go with gunnut on this. If one's religion forbids the taking of human life, he or she may still honorably serve by caring for others.

[THL]

I have been thinking more on this and I almost feel like Christians (or members of the church of god) have a responsibility to go to war. Look at most religions...for the most part, no religion tells its followers to go out and kill people just for the sake of killing them. If all the religions that were told not to kill, were to get a pass to not go to war, we would be killing our own faiths off and the only one left would be the religions running around with bombs strapped to their backs. They would take over the rest of us and we'd have no chance for life at all.

Not sure if this has been mentioned before in this thread but here it is:

Luke 10:18: "Jesus replied, "I saw Satan fall like lighting from heaven." Revelation 12:7-9 "There was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back. But the dragon wasn't strong enough. He and his angels lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was thrown down to the earth, and his angels with him. The dragon is that old serpent called the devil, or Satan. He leads the whole world down the wrong path."

Apparently, even God sent men to war to fight for what they believed in. I think the "thou shalt not kill" thing has been changed from meaning that someone should not run around killing for the mere sake of killing into something meaning more of no one should kill anyone/thing for any reason.

[wb5scx]

I have been in a War, (Vietnam-1965-66-1967-68), I feel I can testify to
the cruelty and inhumanity of War.
If a persons' religious beliefs precludes them from War, I say fine.
What then do you do if a majority of your eligible conscripts are of this Religious faith, and You are invaded by an enemy?
Because politics and budgetary constraints, we have about 30% the size
military that we had when I was a soldier. (64-70)
In the event of a war, the US would have to Draft again.
Ray

[dundonrl]

which "Church of God" since there are many that claim to be the Church of God.. I'm a member of the United Church of God, and while the church dosn't believe in being a military member, I've been in the Navy for almost 17 years.

[Arnold123]

In answer to this prickly problem the definition of ‘The Church of God ‘needs to be defined first. The problem is not in the definition, it is that most, if not all ‘Christian Churches’, aspire to the rank if not actual name of a Church of God. This, is of course, incorrect, as a claim to a right can be made by any organisation without any citation or ratification; the field is wide. The first criterion is that the church must recognise the Bible as the Truth of God, that lets out the Quakers and the Catholics. Then God the Father must be recognised as sustainer of all, second that Christ is the Saviour - Son of God, was in his existence on earth fully human and fully divine, that he is the creator and sustainer of those chosen by the Father and placed in Christ, third that the Holy Spirit is the third person in the Trinity. That God’s law is written in the hearts and minds of believers. These are all terms laid down in the Bile as defining criteria of a Christian Church or a ‘Church of God’. To negate any of these is to let one out of the right to the title or claim. This lets out a large portion of ‘Christianity’; you can now determine the other ‘let-outs’ yourself. As for going to war or being part of the military John-the-Baptist has that answer in the Gospels, ‘do no more than your duty requires’.