Whom does God hold morally accountable between the two: A corrupt king, government, general, or commanding officer who issues the order OR the faithful soldier who carries out the order, reguardless of the colaterial damage of innocent lives?
Particularly: the pilot who is given the command to bomb a village full of children, women and peaceful lawbiding civilians, perhaps in hopes that by doing so, 1 single individual named an “enemy of the state” would be eliminated. He knows that to uphold his oath to serve his nation, he must follow orders issued from his superiors, trusting in the moment he's given those orders, he is serving the highest good, even when he can’t see how from his limited perspective. The pilot knew the death, depravity, destitution and damage on innocent lives that the bombing would inflict; he would be doing the same thing he is suposedly seeking to protect against.
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Asked December 02 2022
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Zaccariah Watchman
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Tim Maas
2 Samuel 11 indicates that, after David committed adultery with Bathsheba (the wife of Uriah the Hittite), which had caused Bathsheba to become pregnant, David tried first to create the possibility that Uriah would be regarded as the baby's father. When that failed due to Uriah's devotion to duty, David wrote an order to Joab (Uriah's commander) to knowingly place Uriah in a situation where he would be killed in battle. Joab carried out the order, and Uriah died as a result. By my understanding of today's rules of war, Joab would be unable to argue that he was "only following orders". However, the Bible makes it clear that (at least in this instance) God held David accountable for Uriah's death..
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