Last week the US assassinated an Iranian General, Qasem Soleimani. My observation is that Americans of almost all political perspectives were not disturbed by the idea of the US Government assassinating (killing or "terminating") someone who is clearly a "bad guy." In fact, after 9/11, US law permits the preemptive killing of someone declared a "terrorist."
My question is this: is it moral? If, as some say, we are a Christian nation, and, as some say, the 10 Commandments are the basis of our laws, and furthermore, "Thou shall not kill" is one of those commandments and enshrined in law, how do we formulate this (and other) exceptions to that commandment? We have some theologians who have formulated the "just war" theory. Our laws allow killing in self-defense.
But, here we neither have a declared war and we have not heard details of the "imminent threat" that government officials spoke of.
Yet, I suspect a majority of Christians probably are ok with this "termination" of a bad guy. But shouldn't we explore how we could justify this act in light of "thou shall not kill?"
