Moral dilema

[Bonocorium]

If a person held a gun and told us to deny our faith or he will kill or torture another person (eg. a child), what do we do?

 

[Aquila_Lucis]

If a person held a gun and told us to deny our faith or he will kill or torture another person (eg. a child), what do we do?

Having never been in that situation, and it being incredibly severe for my suburban sensibilities to contemplate, I do not know for certain. I would likely not address that demand, but rather attempt to disarm him.

Similarly, though: are there circumstances under which you would violate the Marine Coprs Code of Conduct if you were captured by the enemy?

 

[englishredrose]

I can’t answer what ‘we’ would do because in truth it be different for each of us at that moment.

But it is a related question that I had at various times in my life, If I was about to be shot dead, would I deny my faith if that would save me…

I haven’t really been able to answer it and that means, I probably would deny my faith because survival instinct would take over. But now that I am a bit older and so long as I don’t let panic take over, I would be shot dead for my faith rather than denounce my faith. It is one thing to walk away from ‘God’ when its one’s own choice, but to make it a matter of life and death. I hope I would be brave enough to be shot dead and I wouldn’t be trying to make me be a martyre or anything like that. Just simply I would hope my faith is greater than my desire of being alive. The guilt I would face to saying I do not believe in God, when I do believe in God and the sheer, ‘will God still love me’ for denouncing him just to stay alive would allow me to die for my faith - I would hope.

So to answer your question, I hope I would be brave enough to allow the person holding the gun to shoot me rather than be torture another though am more than aware even if they did shoot me, that don’t stop them from still torturing the other etc does it depending on the fullness of the moral dilema you present. I hope to God that I wouldn’t deny my faith and let the persecuter take me instead, but in reality I don’t know what I would actually do, just hope I do the right thing by not denouncing my faith and just what will be, be.

 

[God_love_you]

You have to realize that even if you denied your faith, you wouldn’t be the cause for someone else’s torture. The torture is the still the free will choice and sin of the torturer. Yes, you will be judged for denying your faith, but depending on the circumstances, God will judge every person differently. I always thought God would have mercy on those who may have or would deny their faith when they were the one’s being tortured. I often think about Isaac Jogues and the other missionaries to the Native Americans in North America: they were boiled alive… slowly, fingernails ripped out, skin flayed, fingers cut-off with edges of sea shells, eyes gauged, and the Natives ate their hearts. If I was faced with that kind of torture, I would pray for the strength so as to not deny my faith, but I have say I would probably give in!

A good modern example of holding fast to one’s beliefs is a move called Sophie Sholl, about a German girl who kept her faith and was killed because of it by the Nazi regime.

 

[JRKH]

If a person held a gun and told us to deny our faith or he will kill or torture another person (eg. a child), what do we do?

This is an impossible question to answer because I don’t know how to answer for “we”

In addition, every particular situation has many variables that cannot be addressed in a simply question and answer.

As for myself - and I think that this is true for most of us - it’s impossible for me to know how I would react in such a situation. Though I fear for my weakness in general.

That said, I think that the best general answer we can give is
“We (should) do that which is most Loving.”

Peace
James