I know you're not going to like this one, but the original hebrew word used in the commandments means "murder with deception" The "To War or Not To War" debate has been going on in the Christian faith for centuries, with many things to consider. It's not as clear-cut as you would make it sound. Jesus did indeed say to "turn the other cheek" to paraphrase, but the context is interpersonal confrontation. The Bible also talks about the government yielding the sword to keep order and protect the people. And that makes sense, seeing as God was not a pacifist, using Israel to destroy whole peoples and smiting Israel when they screwed up. If anything, God is one who knows the value of a lesson learned, and when to wipe somebody out for the good of the rest. Check out Achan, the dude who disobeyed God and kept some of the war-bootie after God had told the people to leave it alone. He and his whole family, servants, and even his livestock were killed, and not without much suffering on the part of the whole Hebrew nation on his behalf (Joshua 7).
Aside from that, I don't agree with much of what you said, but I will submit that there is a bit too much political posturing and unfortunately a little too much of the "2-to-6-year Syndrome". It's kinda easy to get cynical about government, or people in general, since we have many instances of F*CKUPS in government (Bill Clinton comes to mind) But we don't live in a perfect nation, or perfect world. We have to do with what we have and try to make things better. Sometimes that means helping the homeless, sometimes that means protecting our nation (an a good deal of other nations) from someone who does not value human life. I will not comment on our involvement in other conflicts, as each one has its own circumstances and I agree or disagree with them individually. That could lead to an unreadably huge email and I'm sure many of you would already like me to shut up :) >Another thing that gives me great concern with our administration is a >Christian President >who, as I understand thatfaith, must observe the 10 Commandants, thou >shall not kill, and >Christ's words , turn the other cheek, begins a war. No where in the 10 >Commandmants >is there a pre-emptive clause for self defense. _______________________________________________ General mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.linux-sxs.org/mailman/listinfo/general
