can a Christian join the Marines?

[BauerUSMC]

I have a bit of a problem. I have been researching the Marines for 2 years now, and I was sure that I would sign up after I completed my senior year of high school. I thought the Marines would be a great service to my family, my friends, my country, and strengthen my beliefs.
I am a born-again Christian. My family has been trying to discourage me from joining, mostly because what the Marines do contradicts what we believe as Christians. Has anyone else here had this problem? I'm open to any advice or suggestions. Thank you.

[Petz]

are you serious....

you must not really understand what Christianity is... god doesn't frown upon protecting yourself... he frowns on cold blooded murder, not a righteous kill... I mean, what are these beliefs? what is contradicting them?

I don't think you know nor do your family know what they are talking about... it's them trying to use religion to get their way... it's not the first time in history this has happened... just don't be suckered into believing them.


EDIT: I'm not saying Marines kill people all the time, there are support MOSs.

but if you really want to join the military then maybe being a RP in the navy is the way to go... they are assistants to the chaplain and in combat zones are his body guard... maybe your family can appreciate that.

[Phantom Blooper]

This subject of religion has been debated before...the key word is KILL and MURDER...quite a difference.

The commandments say "Thou shalt not kill"

Theologians say murder....

Being a born again Christian is fine.....if you are of the religion 7th Day Adventist then your religion may forbid it.

Cain and Able started it.....but that again was murder.

The Marine Corps is based on GOD,Country & Corps!

[jprtech]

Here's the scoop on my own experience...

I am a Christian, my father was a preacher. I joined the Marines after going to Bible College for two years. I was young and very naive. Didn't know much about the world outside the sheltered Christian realm I grew up in.

Be Advised...The Marine Corps will try your faith! It did for me. You have to be a STRONG Christian and have STRONG convictions. If you are weak...you WILL fall. I did.

When I joined I had never smoked a cigarette or even had a drop of alcohol. I stayed close to my convictions for the first 3 years. After that, and I do not blame anyone but myself, I let my guard down. I started drinking and smoking and even scrogging the local girls. No one made me do those things. It was my choice.

But on the same token, I am glad that I was able to experience all of that. It has made me a more open minded individual. It has also made me stronger in many ways.

What I am trying to say is of course you can be a Christian and be a Marine. The Marine Corps beleives in many of the same core values that Christians do...for example.. Honor, Respect, Integrity, Honesty...etc. There are plenty of Churches on and off all of the Marine Corps bases as well as Navy Chaplains that are assigned to most units at the Battalion level.

It's all about choices.. What choice will you make?

Good Luck.

[Gary Hall]

Bauer, I can only speak for the time 1947 - 1952. I was an 0300 the entire time. I personally found that the USMC totally supported a Christian way of life and I'll say it: And after being in some 20 countries of the world, The only way, the one way. According to your bio, you read the Good Book and that is the message of the Book & I don't hesitate to advise you to read it to your family. I would observe that probably no one in your family ever served a day in the USMC, or for that matter any US Military Service. My life's experience is that the US MILITARY (USMC) is the premier choosing of all those vocations, of all times. Say to family: "... set down hear people and let me read to you about how it is ..." and let's start over about what I'm going to do. Kindest regards & Gung Ho, Gary Hall, Tyler, Tx.

[Kegler300]

There are many Christians in the Marine Corps, as well as other beliefs. If you want to take your witness around the world, the Marine Corps is not such a bad choice. I was witnessed to by a Marine in Okinawa in 1978 and later saved because of his witness and testimony. Maybe this is God's plan for you.

[BauerUSMC]

Thank you for the replies. I need to pray very hard about this. Of course I want to defend my family and this country and our freedom.
This article is where most of my concern comes from:
http://www.lewrockwell.com/vance/vance21.html
i think there is definitely a lot of truth to that.

[mjhpgh]

This is from the article the link takes you to.First off swearing is NOT taking the Lords name in vain.It may not be proper behavior for a Christian or other morally conscious people ,but people have morphed it into such.This section alone should show you that the writer of the article has a beef with the US and its military .Many fine Marines have served being "Born Again Christians" as well as other religions!




3. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain (Exodus 20:7).

The state will tolerate God and religion as long as He and it can be used to legitimize the state. God’s name is taken in vain when it is used to justify the state’s wars and military interventions. Some Christians in the military envision themselves as modern-day crusaders warring against the Muslim infidel. Indeed, the president even termed his war on terrorism "this crusade." Others, all the way up to the commander in chief, invoke the name of God or His words in Scripture to give authority to their unconstitutional, unscriptural, and immoral military adventures. When a young Christian man (or woman, unfortunately) leaves home and joins the military he often learns to take God’s name in vain in ways that he never could have imagined. There is a reason the old expression is "cuss like a sailor," not cuss like a mechanic, an accountant, or a fireman. Singing "God Bless America" while cognizant of the abortions, promiscuity, and pornography that curse America is taking God’s name in vain. Likewise, military chaplains asking God to bless troops on their missions of death and destruction are taking God’s name in vain. Many Christians were upset a few years ago when the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (which covers Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington) tried to strike out the phrase "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance (which was only added in 1954). They should have cheered instead, for even though the two federal judges (the decision was 2-1) who made the ridiculous ruling that the inclusion of the phrase "under God" was an unconstitutional "endorsement of religion" ought to have their heads examined, America is not a nation "under God," and to say that it is (as when one recites the Pledge of Allegiance), is the epitome of using God’s name in vain.

[Rocky C]

Unit, Corps, God, Country !!!
Enough Said ...

Semper Fi,
Rocky

[ameriken]

I guess it would have been better if all the hundreds of thousand of Christians who fought in WWII just stayed home and gone to church while Hitler and the SS killed a few million more Jews. Would you approve of that as being "Christian"???

The Catholic Church didn't fight, but they also were silent while millions were slaughtered. Is that Christian???

So don't join and you can fulfill the words of Edmund Burke:

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

[jprtech]

I guess it would have been better if all the hundreds of thousand of Christians who fought in WWII just stayed home and gone to church while Hitler and the SS killed a few million more Jews. Would you approve of that as being "Christian"???

The Catholic Church didn't fight, but they also were silent while millions were slaughtered. Is that Christian???

So don't join and you can fulfill the words of Edmund Burke:

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

The BEST answer yet! Ohh Rah!

[ameriken]

Oh, and help me remember, who was it that said "Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends" ???

[jprtech]

Oh, and help me remember, who was it that said "Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends" ???

It is in the Bible. John 15:13 - and I believe they are the words of Jesus himself.

[Zulu 36]

Oh, and help me remember, who was it that said "Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends" ???

Or, "Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's, and render unto God that which is God's"

[ameriken]

Remember Caesars 'Marines'...the Centurions who killed thousands?

When he (Jesus) entered Capernaum, a centurion approached him and appealed to him, saying “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully.” He said to him, “I will come and cure him.” The centurion said in reply, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a person subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come here, ‘and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. I say to you, many will come from the east and the west and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the banquet in the kingdom of heaven, but the children of the kingdom will be driven out into the outer darkness, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. And Jesus said to the centurion, “You may go; as you have believed, let it be done for you.” And at that very hour [his] servant was healed. (Matthew 8: 5-13)

Did Jesus deny the Centurion because he was in Caesar's Army ? Did Jesus tell him to quit being a Centurion?

Emphatically, NO.

Rather, Jesus recognized and honored the Faith of the Centurion as greater than all of those in Israel.

Why would Jesus treat you any differently???