{"id":152783,"date":"2015-12-15T06:00:14","date_gmt":"2015-12-15T11:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-it-is-ok-to-want-to-kill-the-bad-guys\/"},"modified":"2024-10-22T15:18:40","modified_gmt":"2024-10-22T19:18:40","slug":"ask-a-priest-it-is-ok-to-want-to-kill-the-bad-guys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-it-is-ok-to-want-to-kill-the-bad-guys\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cAsk a Priest: It Is OK to Want to Kill the Bad Guys?\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Q: I want to be a soldier when I grow up. I want to defend my country, but I want to kill the bad guys — like, I’m angry and I want to kill them. But will I still go to heaven even though I want to kill the bad guys? -R.P.<\/address>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC<\/p>\n

A: Jesus tells us, \u201cLove your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you\u201d (Matthew 5:44<\/a>).<\/p>\n

It is good to remember that everyone is our brother and sister in that we all have the same Father in heaven. We shouldn\u2019t want to go out and kill anyone.<\/p>\n

It is one thing to want to protect one\u2019s country \u2013 that is praiseworthy. The Catechism in No. 2310<\/a> says, “Public authorities, in this case, have the right and duty to impose on citizens the obligations necessary for national defense<\/em>. Those who are sworn to serve their country in the armed forces are servants of the security and freedom of nations. If they carry out their duty honorably, they truly contribute to the common good of the nation and the maintenance of peace.”<\/p>\n

Ideally, however, no one should be motivated by a desire to kill people as a goal in itself. That kind of motivation can endanger a person\u2019s soul. All we should hate is evil and sin — and desiring to overcome evil and sin is a good thing. But when it comes to people — sinners — we must love them and wish for their conversion and redemption. God will help us do that, if we give him the chance.<\/p>\n

By the way, it isn\u2019t our place to decide who is a \u201cbad guy.\u201d God alone knows the heart of each person.<\/p>\n

It might be good to pray about all this and ask your friend Jesus what he wants you to do. Also, pray to one of the patron saints of soldiers (you might find one here<\/a><\/a>) and ask for guidance.<\/p>\n

If you decide to become a soldier, be motivated by love of country, not by anger.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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He was an assistant publisher of the National Catholic Register and Faith & Family magazine and an editor of the Zenit news agency\u2019s English edition. He has written for\u00a0SpiritualDirection.com\u00a0and\u00a0ePriest. Fr. McIlmail also worked in spiritual retreats in the Northeast, New England, the Midwest, and the South\u00a0and assisted with mission work in Mexico. Born in Philadelphia, he worked in journalism and was active in the pro-life movement before entering the novitiate of the Legion of Christ in 1992. His contributions to RCSpirituality include responding to\u00a0Ask A Priest\u00a0questions and sharing his insights in our\u00a0Weekly Newsletter.","url":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/author\/emcilmail\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/362"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152783"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152783\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152783"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=152783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}