How would you interpret "Thou shalt not kill"?.
Well, you could scarcely have given a better illustration of Agobot's point.
Over the centuries, people who firmly believed themselves bound by the commandment "Thou shalt not kill" have interpreted it in lots of different ways. Here are just a few points on which they have differered.
War: Does it apply to a soldier in war? If so, does it apply universally to soldiers, or would it only apply to a just war? If so, what is a just war? Do only defensive wars count? If a soldier, as being "a man under authority" is exonerated from the deaths he causes, are they then to the moral discredit of whoever ordered the war? When we are allowed to kill the enemy, does this include only combatants, or does it include slaughtering civilians including children? If not, why does God command such acts of genocide in the Old Testament?
Law: Does the command not to kill apply to judicial executions? Do we have the right to judge someone worthy of death? If so, under what circumstances? Only a life for a life? Would that principle apply such that attempted murderers get off more lightly than successful ones? Does that make any sense? In the medieval age of piety, people were hanged for stealing goods worth more than twelve pence --- is this (a) a stricter morailty than our own lax times (b) an abrogation of the commandment to love thy neighbor (c) a social institution suitable for those circumstances (d) perfectly reasonable when you take inflation ito account (e) other? The Dominionists today say that the death penalty should be mandatory for offenses that merited it in the Old Testament, which at least seems
consistent with attention to the Ten Commandments. Should we burn heretics? If so, which ones? Catholics? Protestants? Protestants who are a different sort of Protestant? By spreading their blasphemous lies about God, they are dragging others after them into Hell --- aren't they worse than murderers?
Self-Defense: May one kill in self-defense? If so, against what assault? Any assualt, as to avoid a slap? Or only in defense of life? Or something in between? To avoid torture? Rape? If you approve that, where do you draw the line? Perhaps you allow me to kill to escape torture, but does that include Chinese burns?
Defense of Property: May I kill to defend property? If so, how much property? Would it be wrong to kill for a nickel, if it is rightfully mine? If not, then please
set the price in defense of which I may kill a man. Many US state permit shooting a burglar on one's own property even if he poses no threat. Are these states anti-Christian, and if so why do they have so many fundamentalists living in them?
Contraception and Abortion Yeah, you've probably heard that people were arguing about that one. Does preventing a zygote from implanting count as "killing" within the meaning of the commandment? If not, at what point does one draw the line?
Dueling: This is no longer a hot topic, but it was when people dueled, and there were plenty of Christian casuists who permitted it. It is not exactly
murder, is it even if it's to the death; because duels are fought
by agreement. We allow boxing matches, don't we? And yet there were plenty to disagree and say that duelling was murder. But what if a man defended his honor and his soul both by accepting a challenge to a duel but not firing his own weapon? Is that OK, or if he dies, is he, like the seconds and the attendant doctor, an accomplice in his own murder? Which brings us on to ...
Suicide: Suicide has often been taken to violate the commandment; as suicides had no time to repent, they were therefore usually considered damned. What's your take on this? Is suicide unconditionally wrong? Legitimate to escape pain? Old age? Boredom? How about the suicide of, for example, Captain Oates? A mediaval Catholic would have cast his body on unshriven ground, a modern Protestant might remember that line about "Greater love hath no man".
Well, welcome to the wonderful world of casuistry.
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Finally, we should note that knowing about evolution doesn't seem to cast any particular light on these problems.
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