Christians and the Military: A Dissenting View

Christian defenders of war and the military, and especially those who practically elevate military “service” to the level of the Christian ministry, ought to pay more attention to the words of those who have been in the military instead of disqualifying me from criticizing the military because I have never “served.” Here is a recent “insider’s view” from one of my readers:

“I just read your piece from today’s Lew Rockwell. Well put. I find it hard to believe that so many nominal ‘Christians’ think that the military is some kind of enclave of virtue. I was in the Army for 4 years (’84 -’88). Let us forget, for a moment, that the purpose of the military is to kill and destroy property — as if that is not bad enough. How does the military hold up when it comes to instilling what Christians call ‘values’? Well, I was shocked at the pervasiveness of drunkenness and sexual immorality among my fellow soldiers. A half-hearted review of the divorce and unwed pregnancy statistics of military personnel would give one an outline for a book on military culture. Go to a VA hospital and see which department is the busiest — it will be the alcohol and drug treatment program. Military culture is rotten to the core (despite the clean-shaven, spit-shined facade), and it corrupts those who enter therein.”

L. G.
South Dakota

Author: Laurence Vance

Laurence Vance holds degrees in history, theology, accounting, and economics. He has written and published twelve books and regularly contributes articles and book reviews to both secular and religious periodicals.

One thought on “Christians and the Military: A Dissenting View”

  1. If the military is “wrong”, it isn’t wrong because of all the salacious behavior of its soldiers. If it is inherently wrong, it is because it is wrong to kill, or wrong to kill for the government, or whatever. Divorce stats and the like are understandably higher among armed forces, but I’m willing to bet that any profession which entails time away from home increases the odds of such problems occurring.

    The one thing I’d really like to know from anti-war Christians, and by this I mean anti-any-war for any reason, is how killing, self-defense, etc suddenly became inherently wrong, if they weren’t before in old testament times. No matter which situation we are tossed into, in the real world, we’ll be a part of some group or another that may do things we find sinful. I’ve been struggling with the idea of pacifism lately, but I still find that the philosophy I best agree with is that a Christian ought to be morally awake every second of his life, and do what seems right at that moment. If he is in Iraq, as a soldier, he perhaps ought to question and refuse to follow orders much more often then soldiers typically do. The author of these articles seems to endorse Ron Paul for president. But how could Mr. Paul, as a Christian, ethically serve as president if government is flat out evil? If it is because he can make changes for the good, then why can’t a soldier do the same?

Comments are closed.