When is freedom worth the taking of a human life?

brokenyetcomplete, you raise an excellent question and one that has been debated for a long, long time. No easy answers exist and most of the time we choose the best answers when no perfect answer is available.

You may enjoy starting with C. S. Lewis’s essay, “Why I am not a Pacifist.”

And then move into more difficult material by one of the most respected books on just war theory, “Just and Unjust Wars” by Walzer (http://www.amazon.com/Just-Unjust-Wars-Historical-Illustrations/dp/0465037054)

Some believe we never have grounds to use violence justly. A good movie on that difficulty is “Friendly Persuasion.”

Others believe we do have grounds to use violence justly, which is the most common view.

Others believe we have grounds to use violence justly but that it is impossible to have 100% just ways to carry out justice. This view is a form of modified-pacifism.

Sometimes this parallels with capital punishment where some believe it is just but that the judicial system isn’t 100% certain and sometimes carries out executions unjustly.

I think this is something you must wrestle with before God, history, and good reason. Most views of pacifism that come from Bible verses alone are unsatisfying to me, in part, because what comes with it is a certain view of Jesus and a belief that he negates the Old Testament. Since the Jews held to a view of just war (and this is all over the Scripture), then there are many grounds on which we can reasonably reach a similar conclusion.

Even leading up to the time of Jesus, the Jews revolted and sometimes won (Hanukkah is such a holiday) for religious freedom. The American Revolution, in some ways, could be an example of this. At the same time, they also adapted methods of subversion without bloodshed (like turning the other cheek and giving all your clothes to a roman soldier when he only asks for a coat), which is what we read most often in the New Testament. When a minority has no hope of justice, then there are other approaches. Martin Luther King was a good example of this approach. So is the underground church in communist countries. Though the government is immoral, subversion happens in other ways. Sometimes it is simply foolish to get your head lopped off out of principle.

The Scripture does not give an unqualified command to obey government authority. It is usually for the reason of maintaining your reputation as a minority because you represent God himself. But that doesn’t mean there are not causes for action in which your representation of God is one of justice and not merely one of keeping your head down among evil people. That God would take a stand for the poor and oppressed should give us pause to consider there is a time to do this as well (and not just when we live in a free country and hand cash to non-profits to service food banks).

In fact, the most popular verses used as an unqualified obedience to authority is Rom 13. I grew up believing that all authority over me was ordained by God and thus dictated God’s will to me. That led to a lot of contradictions in my theology as well as a abuses in my life. When we take the first century into account, we see that Rom 13 likely does not mean that all government is ordained by God. Rather, Paul was referring to the Jewish Synagogue. That is far more consistent with Paul and Jewish thought.

Now, when we read the context of the New Testament we see a people in enemy occupied territory. And within that context, the apostles wrote. That does not mean that God expected all Jews and Gentiles to be living at all times (and to ensure they are living at all times) in enemy occupied territory. At some point, we would find ourselves in charge of a nation, a republic, a colony or whatever. And in that instance, we may apply the principles of love in the New Testament but also consider what it means to be a responsible nation for the good of the people, taking dominion as God commanded in Eden. If good people did nothing, bad people would always reign and good people would be irresponsible with what they’d been given and commanded by God. And most pacifists benefit from lost lives of those who fought for freedom, including the freedom to be pacifists. This is why I’m not a pacifist though I respect those who hold that view and I do think there is a time and place for it, depending on circumstance.

Most instances of freedom fought for is not just for a single person, but for a people… and should I ever need to defend my home from a murderer, I would hope that I would be able to protect my family, not by simply trying to save my own hide, but in an attempt to save theirs. Love lays down his life for his friends in such a way that saves his friends. Take that to a larger level, and we see how we give our lives for the sake of our family of society, that we stand and say, this is where evil stops and we will be a people to sacrifices not for our comfort but for our conscience and for purposes higher than our own.

We often think the Cross of Christ was a pacifist encounter. But in reality, because Jesus had all power in heaven and earth, he was actually undoing evil in the best way through other means. He violently broke the chains of sin and death in ways swords never could. And that was why he came. (Next time he will come with a sword and the blood will flow deep.) We humans do not have that kind of power and must be wise with every circumstance in how we ought to act as most lovingly as we can. For we are not only to love our enemies but love our friends. And if our enemies are seeking to devour our friends, those loves may compete…. but a greater love triumphs… that we “do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God,” says the prophet. We do our best with what we’ve been given and leave the rest in God’s hands. For no human life is three score years and ten… this life is but the title page of our stories … the first chapter begins in the hereafter…. and that is why justice on earth is not ultimate and is permitted. Ultimate justices comes later where God lays bare every soul and heart to see who are his. That is why, even at executions, there is margin in the verdict that God has mercy on our souls.

This is no definitive answer and there will be disagreement but I hope it gives you some space for reflection from another vista.