To Kill or Not to Kill?
QUESTION?
Can a Catholic Policeman or Catholic in the Military ever take someones life? After all, the 5th commandment says thou shall not kill!
ANSWER!
Self defense is clearly stated as a part of Catholic teaching in the Catechism (CCC 2263-2265). For example, when Moses killed (not murdered - their is a difference) an Egyptian guard who was beating a hebrew slave, Moses see's this unjust action and in self defense he kills the Egyptian guard (cf. Exodus 2:11-12). The killing of a person who is engaged in attacking another innocent person is a case of excusable homicide, not murder because it was done in self defense of another. Whether Moses used his hands only or a weapon, in the eyes of God this was justified self defense.
Ratsach is Hebrew for murder.Nakah is Hebrew for kill. Ratsach is the word used in the 10 commandments. The commandment is "Thou shalt not MURDER".
Today, we do have guns to defend ourselves and our loved ones. Some people seem to think that the availability of guns causes crimes. What does the bible say about such a view? God's response to Cains murder of his brother Abel was not to ban rocks, knives or clubs, but to banish the murderer.
A Catholic man has the duty and positive obligation to defend his family to the point of deadly force if necessary, thats Catholic teaching (cf. CCC 2263-65). Look at the obligation Men have to their families: "If anyone does not provide for his own relatives, and especially for his own family, he has disowned the faith and is worse than an unbeliever" (1 Tim 5:8). This means that a man is called to Protect and Provide for his family, spiritually and physically.
Resisting and thwarting an attack is not to be confused with taking vengeance, which is the exclusive domain of God (Romans 12:19).
In John 18:10-11, Jesus order's Peter to put his sword into its sheath, he did NOT mean to put "your sword into its sheath" FOREVER. That would have contradicted what he told his disciples only hours before. "And let him who has no sword sell his mantle and buy one" (Luke 22:36). Swords were not simply decoration, God permits certain men (Law Enforcement & Military) to use force if necessary in order to keep the peace. The bible says (about military & law enforcement): "..he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the SWORD in vain; he is the servant of God to execute his wrath on the wrong doer ( Romans 13:4).
For those who think God treated Israel differently from the way He will treat us today please consider what God told the prophet Malachi 3:6 "For I the Lord do not change..."
We don't need gun control we need self control (Gal 5:22). Did you know that the Catholic Church even has a patron saint of shooters: St Gabriel Possenti - http://www.gunsaint.com/stagnaro.asp