Killing in the Name of
Posted on Nov 20, 2011 by Trevor in Religion
Once upon a time there was a man who was called upon by God to kill. Convinced that this otherwise forbidden act was necessary to move God’s work forward, be obedient and/or exact justice, this man stepped up to the plate, a willing instrument in the hands of his God.
As far as I understand, each of these three were men of great faith that had complete conviction that what they were doing was God’s will for them. See the problem?
Call me a skeptic when it comes to scriptural accounts of divinely authorized killing. In today’s society, if or when somebody is found to be plotting such a thing today, we are quick to respond with our full law enforcement resources and toughest punishments, and rightly so. It is evident that we roundly reject the option of allowing people to commit homicide so long as they feel they have been called upon by God. We can look back on incidents such as the Crusades or the Inquisition as horrific examples of what happens when people murder in the name of God. Yet, for some reason, we sometimes allow for this possibility in the scriptures.
To me, this is unthinkable, and I don’t think it’s merely because I’m ignoring Isaiah 55:8, which says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.” Is it just my modern, bleeding-heart sensibilities that have concluded that life is invaluable? Again, I don’t think so. It seems to me that only a cruel and inconsistent God would command one of His children to perform an act that, without explicit divine permission, is designated as the worst kind of sin that a person can commit.
Isn’t that view a kind of moral relativism? I.e., killing is the worst sin a person can commit, unless it’s commanded by God, in which case it’s not only acceptable, it’s obligatory. That makes the morality of killing completely conditional. Simply saying that God’s ways are higher than ours doesn’t seem nearly sufficient to justify such a scenario.
Of course, my perspective on this topic does color the way I read and interpret those scriptural accounts. But that’s probably another topic for another day. 🙂
erin
Dec 12th, 2011
This post describes the biggest burr in my blanket when it comes to organized religion. Why would God, our Heavenly Father, who loves us so much, ask us to kill each other for any reason? Why would He ask us to cut short our only chance to be here on this Earth as a mortal? Why would He okay the killing of hundreds of millions of men, women, and children who didn’t fit the “norm”? It just makes me so sad.