Thou shalt not kill.?

Question

I know of no animal with a backbone that will stand still and watch their young or themselves be devoured.

why would such a commandment come about when no one could possibly adhere to it ?

Self defense and killing for no reason are two different things....


to kill is still to kill, however it is justified.

Answer 1

thou shalt not murder. When the children of Israel came into Cannan they slaughtered whole cities and God had no problem with it. God also commands several times that certain offenses are to be punished by death.

Answer 2

Christians are under the law of love as stated by Jesus rather than the Mosaic law (ie) "an eye for an eye".
So in following this commandment:
An animal or human can cause pain to a would be killer or scare the killer. However, if the killer has a gun or some other weapon that can kill from a distance, the chances are greater that no one can be saved except by fleeing or blocking the missile.

In self defense if a Christian has a choice of killing or stopping a killer in some other way then some other way must be given preference. Killing in self defense is a last resort for true Christians.

Answer 3

I'm not a religious person, but my interpretation is that you should not kill anyone with forethought or as a deliberate act.
Obviously I can't imagine any single person who would stand back and take no action whilst their children or anyone they knew was being attacked. Even if you saw a stranger being attacked you should intervene but try and analyse the situation for everyone's safety first.
I have never agreed with capital punishment but as i get older and see more injustices in the world, eg; Saddam Hussain, Adolph HItler, Terrorists, then it is harder to stick to your conviction. When Hussain was hanged it was with mixed feelings that I watched on the news the proceedings. Sometimes these decisions have to be made for the good of the Majority!
I have never seen it as a deterrent but as a way of getting rid of 'evil' people.
I am sure that as one of the ten commandments it was meant to be adhered to as it was only God's decision when life was taken and anyway you should be leading a good life and therefore the commandment would not be needed!

Answer 4

Interesting. In fact, according the the Torah (Old Testament), God Himself did not adhere. He orchestrated the slaughter of thousands of people numerous times via His chosen people, the Hebrews. If you believe in the Bible or just the Torah as the literal word of God himself, you are in fact claiming God to be a hypocrite. For example, after God terminated the lives of all the Egyptian newborns at the final plague of Egypt, he supposedly via an angel bestowed upon Moses the Ten Commandments, sixth of which being "Thou shalt not kill". How can one defend such hypocrisy from such a just God? Do not be sucked into the foolishness of Christianity, for thorough analysis reveals far to many contradictions for Christianity in its present form to be the Will of God (If in fact God exists at all, which is purely an assumption).

Answer 5

I don't think the quote applied to animals did it? I guess the idea is, if everyone adhered to 'thou shalt not kill' no one would ever have the need to kill. You've got to hand it to the bible though, whoever/however it got written, they certainly knew the things us humans would have the most difficulty with in life - all the commandments are bang on!

Answer 6

Killing is different from murdering. One is done within defense of one's own life or the life of a loved one. The other is taking the life a person for no reason. The later is the sin.

Answer 7

There is a difference between viciously and intentionally ending an innocent life and defending self, family and liberty. If my children, husband, home or self were threatened, you bet I'd defend myself, to death if necessary.

The commandment means don't shed innocent blood. And disagreeing with a person's religion of choice DOES still qualify as innocent blood (Radical Islamists, are you listening?)

Answer 8

Well it works as an ideal and you don't have to kill to defend yourself or your loved ones necessarily.

Religious people often claim it means you shouldn't commit murder because long after the commandment God himself was advocating the mass killings of men, women and children.

Not quite sure why you're going after this one when its a moral value that most atheists would like to retain in a civilised society!

*There are several animal species including vertebrates that allow their children to be killed - Moorhens actively murder unwanted chicks.*

Answer 9

The commandment is to do no murder. The word murder, as utilized in the verse, is to "lie in wait to do fatal harm", meaning pre-meditated murder.
If someone is breaking into your home to do your family harm, blow their head off.
You have every right under God to protect yourself, your family and your property.
Also, a soldier fighting to protect us are not going against the commandment. They are protecting the Nation, and should be honored for that.
If someone commits a murder by definition, they are to be executed and sent at once to the Father for judgement, where their victim(s) can be present.
You need to understand what is written.
Also, always be sure to apply a good dose of common sense. Thats part of wisdom.

Answer 10

Self defense and killing for no reason are two different things.