Garrett Lambur

Though Shalt Not Kill

In perhaps the most interesting class discussion we have had so far there were different viewpoints upon whether or not the state had the power to take the life of one of its citizens. It certainly added flair that the daughter was arguing on the opposite side of the father. But there was something that we did not cover during the discussion that has had me thinking. The commandment is not limited to capital punishment or murder though that is where the discussion was centered and limited to, so what becomes of a soldier in war? They are ordered by another to take someone else’s life, breaking this commandment. It could be argued that the soldier is fighting in self-defense and this would be true when the soldier is say defending his homeland or himself against an aggressor. But what about when a soldier is involved in an aggressive maneuver or invasion? The self-defense argument falls apart. True, the soldier may not want to take the life of others but he knew upon entering the military that he might have to (This does not apply to drafted members). So it boils down to the soldier took the life of another not in self defense, what happens now?

Is the soldier evil? Well that may entirely depend upon the person who is looking at the soldier. If you are a citizen of the soldiers country than you don’t see the soldier as evil but if you are a citizen of the country he attacked then the soldier inherently becomes evil. But the soldier did not make the decision to attack that particular hill where he killed another human being, a commanding officer did. Does this take the responsibility away from the soldier even though the commanding officer himself did not pull the trigger? Perhaps all responsibility should be taken away from the military and placed upon the country that or individual that started the conflict? Yet coming back to the commandment, it specifically states, though shalt not kill and yet the soldier killed another human being. Will the soldier be held accountable in the afterlife for breaking this commandment or can it be justified that he took a life? Say the soldier is a good human being in every other aspect of his life except for this one issue, do the other factors outweigh this act? There are just so many questions surrounding the soldier and his taking of another human life but it seems to boil down to one question to which I have discernable answer. Is the soldier evil?