Thursday 24 January 2013

Assassinating Hitler

Every once in a while a person asks you a provocative question to try and weed out what we really believe. Ultimately our actions are evidence for what we truly believe. When we as Christians espouse a non-violent approach to our witnessing we are making a very bold claim. But do we always follow through on it? One of the questions that is fairly common(in my own experience) is whether we would kill Hitler as a child if we knew beforehand what he would become.

We all know thats not an easy question to answer. We know what he did and the horrific history of that man. Setting aside the fact we couldn't know that in advance, what if we did? Would you or I kill a child in order to prevent the Holocaust? Or how about if someone asked you to kill a child and if you didn't they would detinate a nuclear weapon in a major city? We somehow convince ourselves that we are somehow responsible for the actions of others if we have some knowledge or ability to stop it, even if stopping it constitutes a sin, even a horrific one such as murdering a child. And thats what it comes down to for me. I will not commit a sin in order to prevent a sin. I would not kill Hitler as a child knowing what he would become. I would not kill a child to prevent a nuclear blast. I could go on for days about this as it connects to our ideas of politics, obligations as moral citizens of earth, etc. But I'll just leave it there for now. I will not commit a sin to prevent a sin.

For His Glorious Name,
Jason

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