The Lord does not expect His followers to be pacifists. In cases where patience and repeatedly “turning the other cheek” are not sufficient to secure a people’s physical safety and freedom, defensive bloodshed is justified. The passage below describes why the Nephites went to war with the Lamanites (a group who was intent on destroying the Nephites)
“…The Nephites…were not fighting for monarchy nor power but they were fighting for their homes and their liberties, their wives and their children, and their all, yea, for their rites of worship and their church. And they were doing that which they felt was the duty which they owed to their God; for the Lord had said unto them, and also unto their fathers, that: Inasmuch as ye are not guilty of the first offense, neither the second, ye shall not suffer yourselves to be slain by the hands of your enemies. And again, the Lord has said that: Ye shall defend your families even unto bloodshed. Therefore for this cause were the Nephites contending with the Lamanites, to defend themselves, and their families, and their lands, their country, and their rights, and their religion.” (Alma 43:46-47)
Questions:
-Is it easy to identify the situations where bloodshed is justified by God?
-Based on the passage above, is there any question that such action should be a last resort?
Messages of the Book of Mormon 