Discussion 2 to the 6th Commandment
A Response to Scott Klajic
by John Tyrrell
To add to this discussion (or any other,) please use the Contact form. This discussion has been continued.Scott:
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I have four points of contention with your comments that I will briefly address :
- The version of the ten commandments (which inspired my original article) that the Alabama Chief Justice posted in his courtroom and erected as a statue in the rotunda of the state Supreme Court both contain the KJV version (Thou shalt not kill.) So do the statues of the 10 commandments raised in various public places across the USA by the F.O.E. (see Meditation 120 ) And amongst many of those who wish to post the 10 commandments in every classroom, there is a strong rejection of any version of the Bible except the KJV. Further, it is the version which most people "know" regardless of which version of the bible their particular church has adopted.
- The source Hebrew word not only covers murder, but also covers causing human death through carelessness or negligence. Thus it combines something that is clearly deliberate with something that may (at the extreme) be a moment's inattention which except for bad luck would not result in death. Motive is apparently not relevant in this commandment.
- Murder is a culturally dependent term. (See the footnotes to Reflection 7) What is seen as murder by some Christian societies - is considered morally justified killing in other Christian societies; not to mention the attitudes of non-Christian societies. And the bible provides extremely questionable guidance in these areas - it tends to favor the bloodthirsty, such as those who think adultery is moral justification for killing.
- You say: "This error has been corrected in every scholarly version since" A provably false claim. For example, the Revised Standard Version. Your "every" should read "some" or perhaps "many."