Quote:
Originally posted by Chewbacca:
But what is war but mass premediatated killing? What is an execution but a pre-meditated killing by government? The Commandment does not say "Thou shall not murder...except".
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Yes but "murder" is a concept which already excludes killing ordered by society.
I think that in most(or even all) laws and commandments in human history thereis the exception of "except if obviously necessary"
!bad comparison coming up!
like a "Don't step on the Grass" sign which can obviously be violated when chasing a criminal.
I think that the Hebrews saw it that way else they would have declared this commandement completely insane as it denied the reality they lived in.
I think it is taken too literal.
If you took it even further you could argue that "Thou shall not kill" stretches out to every living being and therefore would have to abolish consumption of meat or the killing of animals who destroy your crops.
Almost nobody would do that nowadays and I think that back then "Thou shall not kill" was conceived even more leniently and therefore excluded war and major criminals.