Why Do Christians Kill for Their Government?

When I first wrote (“Murderers for Trump”) about President Trump ordering air strikes against “narco-terrorists” on boats in international waters in the Caribbean Sea, there had been three “lethal kinetic strikes.” The last time I checked, there have now been 21 such air strikes in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, with 83 people killed.

The Pentagon has not acknowledged what aircraft the military is using to conduct the strikes, but it is supposed to include MQ-9 Reaper drones armed with Hellfire missiles, AC-130J gunships, and F-35 fighter jets.

Because there was no search, seizure, arrest, indictment, arraignment, prosecution, trial, conviction, or sentencing; no proof of what exactly was on these ships; no threat to the United States by the boats or their occupants; no death-penalty offenses (although Trump and some Republicans would like there to be a death penalty for drug offenses); no boats were near American territory; and because Trump took it upon himself to be judge, jury, and executioner; I concluded then, and conclude now, that all of the air strikes are simply extrajudicial murder.

Many of those in the miliary who participated in this extrajudicial murder are no doubt professing Christians. According to the Pew Research Center, 62 percent of Americans identify as Christian. The percentage of military personnel who identify as Christian is higher than the general population. This has been estimated to be between 65 and 75 percent. The percentage of veterans who identify as Christian has been estimated to be 91 percent. That number seems a little high, but the point is simply that a majority of military personnel identify as Christian.

We can be certain, then that professing Christians were involved in the extrajudicial murder of the people on these boats. Just like we can be certain that professing Christians help to carry out the death and destruction meted out by the U.S. military in Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Korea, and all the minor military operations that the U.S. military has been involved in since World War II: Bosnia, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Yemen, Panama, Somalia.

So, my question is a simple one: Why do Christians kill for their government?

Christians are told to “obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29), to “recompense to no man evil for evil” (Romans 12:17), to “live peaceably with all men” (Romans 12:18), to not kill (Romans 13:9), to not “render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:15), and that “the weapons of our warfare are not carnal” (2 Corinthians 10:4).

So, why do Christians join the military and so easily and callously kill for their government?

There is no draft. There is no universal military service. No American is forced to join the military and kill on command. The fact that the Bible admonishes Christians to “submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake” (1 Peter 2:13) and to “let every soul be subject unto the higher powers” (Romans 13:1) has nothing to do with anything.

If the government were to come to a Christian and say: “Put on this uniform, take this gun, go to such and such address across town, and start shooting people,” I can’t imagine any Christian not being horrified and refusing to do it. But if the government comes to a Christian and says: “If you voluntarily, of your own freewill, join the military, you will be required to put on a uniform, take a gun, go to such and such country, and start shooting people,” then Christians line up at their local military recruiter’s office and say “sign me up.” Why is it that Christians will defend the foreign military action by saying “I was just following orders,” but not the domestic one?

Isn’t it strange that Americans only object to the “I was just following orders” defense—a defense that was used to no avail by Nazis at Nuremberg—when soldiers from other countries attempt to use it?

Christian soldiers who kill for their government are guilty of idolatry. “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3), the Bible says. They have made a god out of the state. They think the state can sanctify murder.

The U.S. military is a giant killing machine. Christians who join the military will be expected to unconditionally follow orders and kill on command to help carry out the U.S. government’s reckless, belligerent, and interventionist U.S. foreign policy. They will not be defending America or its freedoms.

No Christian should kill for his government. No matter how loud the government screams “narco-terrorist.”

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