DISCUSSION BOARD 4- APPLYING MY ETHICAL THEORY.

Answer

Hello William Myers, thank you for sharing your thoughts on the discussion. I have enjoyed reading your post and discovering the remarkable insights that you have provided. Your post has offered an exciting topic, which in relation to the previous personal ethical belief system creates a deeper understanding of the concepts, especially for someone such as I, who had a different personal belief. Contrary to my intentional ethics belief, I find your conceptualization of the Divine Nature Theory beneficial for the quest to develop a deeper understanding of the issues around metaethics and ethical theories[1]. I agree with you that from a Christian perspective, God should always be the standard of morality since he is the ultimate measure of perfection. The Creator, according to the scriptures, has the standard of what is right or wrong, which makes your post of more considerable significance.

However, your choice to tackle pacifism in this discussion shows your more profound understanding of the course and willingness to go deeper, which is useful in keeping the discussion active and enlightening the other class members. Most Christians believe we are serving a God who cherishes peace and will never want us to engage in violence. Nevertheless, the reality of life shows that we have to overcome violence nearly on a daily basis, which makes it necessary to have a broader understanding of the difference between the pacifists and the non-pacifists. In essence, I agree with your definition that pacifism is a belief that requires total avoidance of violence without subjecting it to questions[2]. There are also instances in the Bible where violence seems to dominate, especially during the Exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land. The primary question under these circumstances usually revolves on God’s approval for his people to engage in violence.

Christianity does not teach us to be naïve. We have to respond to situations as they come and make every effort to express the love of God, which in most cases, extends to those we think do not deserve. This makes me agree with you that some situations in life make violence inevitable[3]. The consequences of violence are never good. Nobody ever desires violence or war, mainly when you are likely to be on the losing end. When the opportunity comes, it can be very difficult to presume that violence was very avoidable. This means that violence, as ugly as it may seem, is justifiable and necessary in some situations.

Therefore, as Christians, we must make every effort to study and know the will of God. The scripture provides many insights on how we should respond to various life-threatening situations, which your post does well to mention. The study should not take a biased approach since both the Old and New Testament accounts of the Bible are in effect for proper Christian living. Furthermore, God has always proven to love peace. The entry of sin came with violence, which then makes it challenging to avoid the appearance of evil. Such makes me concur with your conclusion that in the sight of God, violence and war are not righteous, and therefore, we should avoid them like the plague. However, when such violence aims at sabotaging the truth, we need to respond as guided by the spirit of God.

[1] May, Larry, ed. Applied ethics: A multicultural approach. Routledge, 2017.

[2] Robinson, Nathan J. “The Importance of Pacifism.” Current Affairs. Last modified March 1, 2019. Accessed December 4, 2019. https://www.currentaffairs.org/2019/03/the-importance-of-pacifism.Bottom of Form

[3] Robinson, Nathan J. “The Importance of Pacifism.” Current Affairs. Last modified March 1, 2019. Accessed December 4, 2019. https://www.currentaffairs.org/2019/03/the-importance-of-pacifism.Bottom of Form