Quote from stu:
'mornin Barth
dude, come on man, you cannot make kill mean don't kill, either by a so called spoken word from a big magical self-contradictory cloud Daddy, or if written as some sort of suspect spiritual instruction.
If you don't mind me saying, this type of dishonesty in meaning, speech and word is exactly what the religious fall back on all the time. A contrived deception which only besmirches humanity.
Actually, it's a disgrace.
I fear that I am missing your point.
If you are stating that it is a contradiction for the commandment "..Thou shalt not kill...." to be given to man, and then Scripture has numerous instances of G-D's judgement that results in death, then I would state the following:
How much of the required judgement by G-D, against the perversion of man would have been required IF man followed the commandments of G-D ?
Many are so accustomed to focus on the merciful, graceful and long-suffering disposition of G-D, that the inexorable character of His righteousness, and what that requires from a righteous Judge, is not given careful reflection.
Man is commanded "..Thou shalt not kill...", end of debate, however, there are conditions in which G-D cannot show mercy precisely because He IS merciful.
My question to vhehn, regarding the execution of McVeigh, makes my point. Would it have been "merciful" to order the release of McVeigh ? In the strictest definition of the word "mercy", one could argue that it would have been merciful.
Would it have been a righteous judgement ? No, I dont think it would have.
And I would further state that mercy occured along with righteousness in the above example. The execution of McVeigh was also merciful, if it speaks to a potential miscreant at a later point in time, that this behavior carries this penalty. Some potential mass murderers would be dissuaded from such actions by the example of the judgement of the government in the McVeigh penalty, therefore saving innocent lives. [of course, others might not, as they are fully prepared to die for their desire]
If G-D is righteous, then by default, there must be conditions in which mercy cannot be shown; our worldly courts of justice reflect this principle.
If government, which in my faith is instituted by G-D to manage the wordly affairs of man by man, wields the sword to defend life and liberty, you would deny this permission to a more righteous Judge ? You would be astonished by such ? Really now, this would defy logic !
For another example......The constitution states that men are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. This is important, that these rights were handed down from a "higher authority" than man, otherwise, as many refugee's from more despotic regimes would testify, what man giveth, man can take away.