> > My position on this is that I wouldn't ever want to kill anyone (I reckon the Seventh Commandment means "Do not kill someone, for any reason" although I know some people don't agree with that - and there's enough of them to make a good enough army in case it's ever needed) and that I would conscientously object on those grounds.

[snip for brevity]

> But if you're a pacifist, you're a pacifist, and that's one thing, but there is another:
>
> If you're truly a pacifist, I hope that Bible commandment isn't the only justification you have of that position. I hate it when people take Bible verses out of context and form entire philosophies around them. If you're going to use the Bible to justify a personal philosophy, then use the WHOLE Bible. True, it says "thou shalt not kill," but a couple dozen verses later it says that murderers and rapists should be put to death. (Lest I start a capital punishment thread up again, THAT isn't all the Bible has to say either, because the New Testament has a lot to say about how much of the Old Testament Law still applies, now that Christ has come.)

Many translations render "Lo tirtsacha" as "You shall do no murder", or something to that effect. The root of "tirtsacha" is "ratsach". Forms of this word are found referring to murder, one who committed involuntary manslaughter, and the God-ordained putting-to-death of someone who violates certain of His teachings, usually about murder. So I don't believe the command applies to being on the right side of a war.

Nyperold