Where is God in wartimes? Would God be on one side or another?

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You know if you've read the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna agrees to serve as Arjuna's charioteer at the battle of Krukshetra but is unarmed... So you could say that Krishna is at the side of His devotee and urges him to carry out his duties but the outcome of the war was in doubt and the fruits of the actions are sacrificed. The Bhagavad Gita was a favorite read for many soldiers.

In the time of Jesus the counsel was to love your enemies and do good to them that persecute you. Of course the Roman Empire had pretty much control over Judea and Galilee and to quote a well known phrase "resistance is futile".

In the time of Muhammad the believers were permitted to defend their Faith by organized resistance or Jihad.

Later, Baha'u'llah abrogated Jihad and the stress was placed on building a world parliament and international court of arbitration to achieve world peace.

So today it seems our primary challenge is to build world peace and reduce armaments.

- Art

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"it benefits us to be thoughtful, not of the glory of our minds, but rather, above all else, of the glory of God."
- Johannes Kepler

When my son first told me that he was going to join the Army, it was a big shock for me. I saw my son more like a minister than a soldier. His concerns of others is great and he can't harm a fly. For the first time I was allowed to truly know what unconditional love meant. I asked myself, if I could hold him back would I want to? Can I protect him from that which he feels he needs to experience? Do I love him that much that I would let him go even unto death?

To my question Why? My son answered:"If I want to make a change, I have to start at the bottom." I might disagree with the decision, but support him in his decision.

I see in this world the breaking up of old concepts. I see that we as humans have not yet let go of judgment of others with leads to violence. I think that war is for some the only way an old concept can be broken, and I try not to judge that belief. Surely God is in all of it, a truth unseen and unknown to many in this world.

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May your awareness be perfection

I speak, as always, as an outsider to religious consideration. But from everything that I've seen of descriptions of "God," the most difficult thing for me to imagine is how this "god of all the universe" could ever be persuaded to take sides, one group of his creation against another.

Henry the Fifth:

"O God, thy arm was here;
And not to us, but to thy arm alone,
Ascribe we all! When, without stratagem,
But in plain shock and even play of battle,
Was ever known so great and little loss
On one part and on the other? Take it, God,
For it is none but thine!"

and a few lines later:

"God fought for us!"

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evangelicalhumanist: Greek "eu"=good and "angelos"=messenger. Spreading the good news of Humanism.

Before the Jews declared "God is One," every nation/tribe in the region had it's own god, and a battle between people was also seen as a battle between gods. It was a matter of pride to have your god beat the other guy's god. The fiercer your god was, the better. The idea that "Thou Shalt Not Kill" may have been a novel idea during a time when war meant survival. The concept of God (especially in the Judeo/Christian/Muslim tradition) was all about playing favorites. Even after Jesus and Mohammed, things didn't get that much better.

When you think about it, aren't we always at "war" - with each other, with ourselves, with what we think is wrong, or evil? We may not always act it out, but the thoughts are there........ Whenever we take sides, we're choosing to remain in the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And we'll bring God into it and try to make Him sit there with us!

What's so interesting to me is that the Jews probably had it right all along and didn't see it: "The Lord our God is One." It doesn't say "There's
only One God." It says God IS One. He is perfect Unity. Or, if you will, the state of total unity is God. As long as any division exists, we're not there yet. And as long as we're not there yet, we can't imagine or describe non-duality.

Yes, Angeleyes, you said it: As long as any division exists, we're not there yet.

I also agree with E.H.: the most difficult thing for me to imagine is how this "god of all the universe" could ever be persuaded to take sides, one group of his creation against another.

I find it disturbing, to see stickers like: God protect our soldiers. Every soldier is a father, a brother or/and a son to someone.

It helps me to hear when my son shares some stories about being in Iraq. He has made friends with many and waves to all : ) He asks for candy for the kids. He respects life and peoples free will to worship what ever and many in Iraq feel the same way too. I feel my son and many soldiers are not there to fight, but to bring peace.

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May your awareness be perfection