Growing up I did not have much interaction with the military. However after seeing movies like Rambo, Heartbreak Ridge and Platoon I began to see that there is something commendable about military service. Yet when I became a Christian I took Jesus literally in His command of turning the other cheek. I have to admit there were few instances where I actually had to do this so this moral principle went uncontested. After I began to read the Ante-Nicene Fathers I became convinced I could not serve in the military. They seem unanimous in their opinion about non-resistance. However I eventually became Catholic and receive the blessing of my priest to join the military for which I served five years with one of those years in Iraq. Do you think the Early Church was against military service? What is your opinion? I am struggling with this issue.

I can't think that the early church was unanimous on it otherwise all of the soldier martyrs would not have existed and yet we have saints like Goerge Florian Demetrius Theodore Mercurius Sergius and Bacchus.


There was even once an entire legion that was decimated until they were all killed. http://www.bibleprobe.com/theban.html

Thank you JJM! I had almost forgotten about my question. Blessings!

Ken,

It has been my understanding that the Commandment, "thou Shalt not Kill" is applied to refer to murder, and not that which is done in combat. Those of us didn't like it in Viet Nam, and I cannot forsee where the people participating in war in the mideeast, cannot feel that they are involved in the conflict of "good vs Evil", feel any different.

None of us who have been involved in war like it, some have suffered more than others, but we have done what we did adhereing to the government we are commanded in scipture to "adhere to". Are we supposed to fight the evil one and destroy him? ABSOLUTELY!! The question becomes,.. where is this battleground? For some of us it is war, for those more fortunate, it is the fields of the ecclesiastical (sp?) rhelm of which we live. I prefer today to defeat satan through the healing ministry, through prayers and through my Christian life, as well as I can live it. Does this help??


Roy

The earliest Christians did indeed oppose war quite deeply. They also would not testify in a criminal case if they knew the defendant could get the death penalty.

However, after Christianity became legal things changed. Christians were no longer a minority but active in the government. I think this made the Church, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, come up with ways to, in limited cases, fight wars where fighting the war was morally justified. For instance, I think World War II is a good example. Hitler could not be stopped any other way, as even Bonhoeffer, a dedcated pacifist, realized. However, the Catholic view of war is different from the "let's kick everyone's ass who disagrees with us" kind of view that some folks have about war. I think "just war" is very reasonable when applied correctly.

David

This simply isn't the case. While it is true that some and many did oppose war not, all did, all of the saints I referenced were martyred before Constantine. Such absolutes give a false impression that there was a unanimousity to it. I've heard the similar statements about actors.

A short story from my family history. My father wanted to resist the war effort in WW2. His pals, all Catholic, wanted to do something for the effort, but without killing. They all signed up for one unit of the Army Air Corps and flew "humanitarian missions" into China.

Later, during the Viet Nam war, two of my brothers resisted the draft...with our fathers conditional blessing. I turned 18 at the end of Vietnam War and missed the draft registration entirely.

One draft resistor in my family recently ran for public office using a bit of revisionist history about his resistance in order to get the support of the Republicans in his area. He claimed peer pressure. Another, later joined the Navy and actually saw some duty in the first Gulf War and now works as a defense contractor making "smart bomb" (an oxymoron (sp?)) guidance systems.

Now, I am closely associated with the Catholic Worker movement. Many of the founding members, including Dorothy Day, opposed the US entry into WW2. Of course, this made her some enemies.

I think our father would have been proud of each of our choices and growth in understanding about our convictions.

I am still looking for an example of an actual war fought as "just war".