Matthew Smith

Ethical Use of Force Guidelines for Christian Households and Organizations Matthew Smith

In the Christian community, there is currently a void of efforts to provide ethical guidelines for the use of force. While individuals are encouraged to be defenders of their households, and churches even promote weapons ownership as a means of protecting household members, the community has not developed or defined ethical standards for use of deadly force, or even any consensus or conversation on this subject.

It is a principle of society that you cannot oppose something with nothing. When facing this situation, leaders and defenders will inevitably be influenced by the pagan positions of disarmament or vigilantism. At best, household leaders will rely on the guidance of lawyers and courts. However, this approach places priority on maintaining legally defensive behavior, and falls short of aiming to produce ethical conduct that pleases God.

It is the mission of Sixth Training Group to provide ethical guidance for leaders and defenders. To that end, the author has prepared a set of guidelines which attempt to provide a comprehensive approach to the use of force in households and organizations.