Ha ha Love ya Eric,
We have a great example of Masters and saints who led us to war and rebellion… a few examples here;
#1 Krishna
#2 Moses
#3 Joan of Arc
#4 David
#5 Gandhi - in this his case peaceful rebellion
#6 Lincoln (perhaps not a Master but definitely had saintly qualities, abolishing slavery by having more people killed in all the wars U.S. has ever fought!)
#7 Washington ( A man of psychic visions and brought us freedom from tyranny )
#8 St. Ignatius of Loyola
#9 St. Sebastian
Seekers of God are not drawn to William the Conqueror. One can argue President Trump and Putin are also reflective of the time we find ourselves in as far as the evolution of consciousness within our region of time/space is concerned. Yet we have real examples of people that seem to indicate a higher level of evolution in consciousness who are made incarnate even in the darkest of times. It implies we are not bound to group think but that each of us has an opportunity to rise above. That's the noble, main quest of any spiritual seeker. We often contemplate what it would be like to rise out of duality, or voice in some creative manner that we are tired of incarnating here.
I maintain the attitude that Trump or Putin can come back and be great Masters. But it doesn't matter. We don't look at Yogananda and think- I want to be like William the Conqueror- a man who had no regard for killing women and children.
Similarly, Amma the Hugging Saint- another clear example of deep understanding and a Soul who seems to have risen above duality.
The Killing of Women and Children in the Old Testament
Paul E. Brown
Title: The Killing of Women and Children in the Old Testament
Category: Theology
Subject: Killing Women and Children
Often the question is raised--sometimes by skeptics, but sometimes by sincere believers--as to why God on certain occasions in the Old Testament allowed the killing of women and children by his chosen people, the Israelites.
Examples of passages that cause people to raise those questions are the following: In Deuteronomy 3:6 Moses is recounting for the Israelites the events that had occurred during their journeying toward the promised land: “And we utterly destroyed them, as we did unto Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying the men, women, and children, of every city.”
In Joshua 10:40 we read: “So Joshua smote all the country of the hills, and of the south, and of the vale, and of the springs, and all their kings: he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the Lord God of Israel commanded.”
Reading such passages, people sometimes ask: “How could it possibly be right for God to approve the killing of innocent women and children?”--and in the two cases referenced above, as well in others that could be cited, clearly God did approve of that killing; indeed, he commanded it. The further question is raised, “Does not God thereby contradict his own command given in Exodus 20:13, “Thou shalt not kill” (KJV)?
First of all, a clearer and more accurate translation of Exodus 20:13 is, “Thou shalt not murder” (NIV). Murder refers to unjustified killing. Some killing is justified--such as soldiers doing their duty in war, the government executing murderers, and a person killing to defend his family or himself from a would-be assassin. So, Exodus 20:13 does not rule out all killing--only killing that is unjustified.
But there still remains the question, “How could the killing of innocent women and children ever be justified?--and how could God command such a thing?”
The first thing to be remembered is the truth of Isaiah 55:8-9: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” God is the Creator and Sovereign of the universe, which means--among other things--that he is the Sovereign of life and death. It is his prerogative to determine who lives and who dies.
“But,” the question persists, “how could God justify killing innocent women and children?”
While we may never in this life have a complete answer to that question, at least some light can be gained by bearing this in mind: we know for a fact--for Scripture reveals it--that certain nations and cities in which men, women, and children were exterminated were nations and cities that were horribly depraved and corrupt; they were like moral cancers in the body of humanity. Note what Moses said to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 9:3-4:
Understand therefore this day, that the Lord thy God is he which goeth over before thee; as a consuming fire he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thy face: so shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the Lord hath said unto thee. Speak not thou in thine heart, after that the Lord thy God hath cast them out before thee, saying, For my righteousness the Lord hath brought me in to possess this land: but for the wickedness of these nations the Lord doth drive them out from before thee.
Eric, with your beliefs, if you ever went had to go to war… consider being a medic. They certainly have been needed!!!
