From May 2006 until May 2007, I served with a military intelligence battalion in Iraq. I didn’t see combat every day, but we were regularly mortared, rocketed, and fired upon with small arms. Our unit was blessed…we all came home in one piece.

Compared to most of my colleagues, my combat tour was a cakewalk. But I saw enough violence and battle results in our installation hospital and during my years working in hospitals.

Killing a human being is a serious matter. Life is not created by people, and we are not programmed to take it away. In the past, I met and talked with Soldiers and civilians who killed. In most cases, they live the rest of their lives with a dark cloud over them. The ones who do not concern me.

I hear amateurs in biblical theology preach that killing violates the Ten Commandments. “Thou shalt not kill!” they say. But they also don’t seem to note that the texts also instruct the Israelites to kill their enemies in combat. There is a distinction between killing and murdering in Deuteronomy.

Killing is the taking of a life. It encompasses all motives and means. Some killing is immoral, but some killing is not. An example is the accidental taking of a human life. A person is chopping wood, the blade falls off the axe, and strikes an innocent person in the chest, piercing the heart. Such a death, while regrettable, is not punishable.

Murder is another matter. Such killing is done for personal reasons: revenge, lust, and anger are examples. Murder is a crime. The perpetrator of murder forfeits her or his own life if found guilty. It is among the highest felonious behaviors possible for a human to commit.

The Bible does not call killing in defense of oneself or on behalf of one’s country murder. It is killing. A person who kills an enemy combatant from a nation acting on behalf of their government is granted a reprieve from punishment.

But does that mean there are no consequences for killing in combat? Experience is clear on this point. Even when a person is justified in taking a human life or lives, there are scars, especially under certain conditions. Killing innocent babies and children is especially difficult, causing severe psychological trauma in many people.

Another consequence occurs in the human soul after killing. Some people reach a state of psychosis. Some get that state because their moral compass becomes skewed. They become desensitized to killing and need help rebuilding their souls. Others find killing pleasurable and hunger for more. It’s an addiction to them.

This is why I am an opponent of war and killing.