Can a Christian Be a Pacifist?

Like to share some thoughts about this topic that I had put up in my Links section:

Link

It is an issue that I personally struggle with.  It was actually rekindled indirectly through an SMS conversation I had with my brother today about Christians who desire to be non-combatants in the local armed services.

My personal struggle stems from an upbringing of a passion for military matters and defence technology.  That deep-seated interest in the science and art of weapons design is probably the sole determining factor in facilitating my entry into the defence industry, and I am inclined to say that it has also enabled the establishment of my chosen career path.

That said, I yet, also, am fully conscious of need and calling towards having a high view of God and His way in my life.  And with this mindset, in relation to my job description, the morality of what I do in my work had indeed haunted me very early on in the development of my career.

To the end of it all, I always took on the self-assuring belief of doing what I did as a faithful steward.  And even though the fruit of my labour turns out to be something that is capable of taking the life of a fellow human, I attributed the reasoning of the fallenness of this world, where war is a necessary evil, only to be ended with the return of Christ.

This article by Don Murphy has quite emphatically caused me to rethink all that,  though I do still hold on to the paradigm of youth (and it is hard to dismiss it overnight).  This will definitely be a poser to any reader who may suffer from a similar predicament, and I trust that he or she will be equally challenged to choose wisely the way of life.

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