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God and all the wars
Here we are again. Our old tricky Christianity, which has served us for hundreds of years. The word "serves" is definitely misleading since I believe it does more harm and division than good. We can all just open our history books or, even easier, the Internet, and check all the sorrow of religious wars.
A good example is the Thirty Years' War, which happened between 1618 and 1648. The length of the war alone sounds horrifying. Yet, what is more alarming and outrageous is the fact that, according to the Bible, it was completely fine and acceptable by God.
Let’s look at some verses that support my statement:
Psalm 144:1: "Praise be to the Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle." This verse evokes the destiny to fight, join wars and to always be prepared for them. But why we should train ourselves to kill and spread pain, if the bible is cordial book?
The the next verse is even darker and more unpleasant to readd:
1 Samuel 15:3: "Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey."
Very cruel words from the lovely and peaceful God as Christians like to describe him. Killing innocent children who aren’t responsible for the environment they are living in and animals who aren’t even aware of what’s happening and just feel the pain of iron swords. How can this be generally accepted in our society, and followed by 1 billion people?
It’s a real pity the book wasn’t written in the modern age because, obviously, Christianity would be described as violent and sadistic. I wouldn’t even be surprised if the religion was banned in some countries and forbidden to follow. But because of the past, in the present day, if too many believe in something, it will eventually become “truth” or “fact” that no one can question. It’d be considered rude to fundamentally and pragmatically prove it wrong. That’s the power the Christianity and all the large religions hold — turning fantasies into false acknowledgement.
Another thing that shocked me was the line in the Bible that says, "You shall not kill." Exodus 20:13. This contradicts the wars that God supported and probably still does. The main point in war is to kill, to eliminate the enemy. If a soul burns out, it's murder, no matter the place or basis.
What I also find mystifying is how the higher spirit determines who's the enemy, the villain of the story. If the conflicts are fair and both sides have good intentions in war, who will he help?
Will he flip a coin and see the results? I hope not. But then, what's the point in praying if God is neutral and sees us equally? Or praying uselessly so your football team can win? I doubt God thinks like that. Romans 2:11: "For God shows no partiality."
If you thought this is all just the Old Testament and can't be valid anymore, you are mistaken. Jesus agrees with everything that God did: John 10:30: "I and the Father are one." So, unfortunately, nothing has changed with the New Testament, and the old paths still remain.
I don't need to explain that in wars it's a priority to cold-bloodedly kill and murder. But here it gets interesting. God doesn't weigh all the murders the same.
The Hebrew word "רצח" (ratsach) means: “the intentional, premeditated killing of another person with malice; murder." However, soldiers do kill intentionally and with malice. Just look at the unforgettable World War II. The Nazi army felt anger and villainy when massacring on the fields. They were aware of what they were committing and not only that, they concurred with Adolf H!tler.
As always, people find arguments that it's only murder when you personally knew the person who you murdered, yet that opinion is very much unexplainable and diverse. What's the difference between killing a random stranger on the street and a soldier whose identity I don't know? Or if I declared a new state that wouldn't be recognized by the U.N. or any other nations and began a war on my neighboring country, killing strangers in cities. Would that count as war in God's eyes? Would it be an unsinful act? There are plenty of terrorist organizations that are declaring wars and claiming to be nations. ISIS is well known for this. So, my question is - are they pure? I doubt God follows the U.N. list of member states or any political institutions. I see a large evil in understanding what war actually means in the Bible. There isn't a clear answer, therefore people can take advantage of it and use it however their mind tickles. We humans are, after all, very manipulative and sly; we always find our ways to get around rules and this isn't an exception.
If we ignore the paradox: "What is war according to the Bible?" Then in the past, there were conflicts that claimed to be fighting in God's name, when in reality they were immensely far from it. The Crusades in 1096 - 1291. Pope Urban II launched a military campaign to seize the divine city of Jerusalem from Muslims. Approximately 60,000 brave believers joined this bloody war to take control of the land and protect Christian pilgrims. But behind all of this, there were also secular motives. How unexpected. One of these was economic gain. Many believed it would prosper their wealth and find new gold. Another was expanding the land and influence of Europeans on Arabic land. This one I quite expected since we humans are obsessed with power and owning as much as we can.
And last but not least: trying to escape from previous problems. Many people ran away to escape their unpaid bills or criminal records, etc. This fight is one of many more that had lies and secrets hidden. I'm just wondering how God judged the army and what circumstances he was considering.
Another contradiction that I found is morality. It is a big word in the Christian universe. They truly say that without the Bible there wouldn’t be morality, which is highly fictional. But still, if it were true, how could it happen that wars are allowed and not punished by God? I must then disagree with God’s morality. Conflicts among countries are only moral (which is still debatable) when they are fighting for good and justice and if the country was attacked first. Otherwise, they are extremely unethical. When I mentioned at the beginning that God commanded the Israelites to even kill innocent children and animals, which he created, it’s just monstrous and incomprehensible. I can never understand why he created people just to go to war and spread terror, when in his powerful hands he can manifest harmony.
He sees the future, he has unlimited power to make peace, so not even a single life would be lost, and yet he chooses this brutal and sad way.
How can we forgive you, Lord, when you remain the same, and nothing changes?
When pain is still an answer, and hope for peace isn't determined?
I'll end this article with a quote from a philosopher who's surprisingly Christian, but it's so purely accurate: "Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction." - Blaise Pascal.
© All Rights Reserved
A good example is the Thirty Years' War, which happened between 1618 and 1648. The length of the war alone sounds horrifying. Yet, what is more alarming and outrageous is the fact that, according to the Bible, it was completely fine and acceptable by God.
Let’s look at some verses that support my statement:
Psalm 144:1: "Praise be to the Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle." This verse evokes the destiny to fight, join wars and to always be prepared for them. But why we should train ourselves to kill and spread pain, if the bible is cordial book?
The the next verse is even darker and more unpleasant to readd:
1 Samuel 15:3: "Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey."
Very cruel words from the lovely and peaceful God as Christians like to describe him. Killing innocent children who aren’t responsible for the environment they are living in and animals who aren’t even aware of what’s happening and just feel the pain of iron swords. How can this be generally accepted in our society, and followed by 1 billion people?
It’s a real pity the book wasn’t written in the modern age because, obviously, Christianity would be described as violent and sadistic. I wouldn’t even be surprised if the religion was banned in some countries and forbidden to follow. But because of the past, in the present day, if too many believe in something, it will eventually become “truth” or “fact” that no one can question. It’d be considered rude to fundamentally and pragmatically prove it wrong. That’s the power the Christianity and all the large religions hold — turning fantasies into false acknowledgement.
Another thing that shocked me was the line in the Bible that says, "You shall not kill." Exodus 20:13. This contradicts the wars that God supported and probably still does. The main point in war is to kill, to eliminate the enemy. If a soul burns out, it's murder, no matter the place or basis.
What I also find mystifying is how the higher spirit determines who's the enemy, the villain of the story. If the conflicts are fair and both sides have good intentions in war, who will he help?
Will he flip a coin and see the results? I hope not. But then, what's the point in praying if God is neutral and sees us equally? Or praying uselessly so your football team can win? I doubt God thinks like that. Romans 2:11: "For God shows no partiality."
If you thought this is all just the Old Testament and can't be valid anymore, you are mistaken. Jesus agrees with everything that God did: John 10:30: "I and the Father are one." So, unfortunately, nothing has changed with the New Testament, and the old paths still remain.
I don't need to explain that in wars it's a priority to cold-bloodedly kill and murder. But here it gets interesting. God doesn't weigh all the murders the same.
The Hebrew word "רצח" (ratsach) means: “the intentional, premeditated killing of another person with malice; murder." However, soldiers do kill intentionally and with malice. Just look at the unforgettable World War II. The Nazi army felt anger and villainy when massacring on the fields. They were aware of what they were committing and not only that, they concurred with Adolf H!tler.
As always, people find arguments that it's only murder when you personally knew the person who you murdered, yet that opinion is very much unexplainable and diverse. What's the difference between killing a random stranger on the street and a soldier whose identity I don't know? Or if I declared a new state that wouldn't be recognized by the U.N. or any other nations and began a war on my neighboring country, killing strangers in cities. Would that count as war in God's eyes? Would it be an unsinful act? There are plenty of terrorist organizations that are declaring wars and claiming to be nations. ISIS is well known for this. So, my question is - are they pure? I doubt God follows the U.N. list of member states or any political institutions. I see a large evil in understanding what war actually means in the Bible. There isn't a clear answer, therefore people can take advantage of it and use it however their mind tickles. We humans are, after all, very manipulative and sly; we always find our ways to get around rules and this isn't an exception.
If we ignore the paradox: "What is war according to the Bible?" Then in the past, there were conflicts that claimed to be fighting in God's name, when in reality they were immensely far from it. The Crusades in 1096 - 1291. Pope Urban II launched a military campaign to seize the divine city of Jerusalem from Muslims. Approximately 60,000 brave believers joined this bloody war to take control of the land and protect Christian pilgrims. But behind all of this, there were also secular motives. How unexpected. One of these was economic gain. Many believed it would prosper their wealth and find new gold. Another was expanding the land and influence of Europeans on Arabic land. This one I quite expected since we humans are obsessed with power and owning as much as we can.
And last but not least: trying to escape from previous problems. Many people ran away to escape their unpaid bills or criminal records, etc. This fight is one of many more that had lies and secrets hidden. I'm just wondering how God judged the army and what circumstances he was considering.
Another contradiction that I found is morality. It is a big word in the Christian universe. They truly say that without the Bible there wouldn’t be morality, which is highly fictional. But still, if it were true, how could it happen that wars are allowed and not punished by God? I must then disagree with God’s morality. Conflicts among countries are only moral (which is still debatable) when they are fighting for good and justice and if the country was attacked first. Otherwise, they are extremely unethical. When I mentioned at the beginning that God commanded the Israelites to even kill innocent children and animals, which he created, it’s just monstrous and incomprehensible. I can never understand why he created people just to go to war and spread terror, when in his powerful hands he can manifest harmony.
He sees the future, he has unlimited power to make peace, so not even a single life would be lost, and yet he chooses this brutal and sad way.
How can we forgive you, Lord, when you remain the same, and nothing changes?
When pain is still an answer, and hope for peace isn't determined?
I'll end this article with a quote from a philosopher who's surprisingly Christian, but it's so purely accurate: "Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction." - Blaise Pascal.
© All Rights Reserved
