Thou shalt not kill. Why?
In my previous post ... Thou shalt not kill.
I did leave things very wide open and unlimited.
I left it wide open because this is how see things, without limitation.
What I have observed, is a common thread, that is interwoven into the very fabric of present day society. It is a thread, that spiderwebs out into everything that makes life suck, this key thread is, "justified killing."
I still have not been convinced, that there is a single justification for the taking of life.
I can and will, discuss the killing of not human life as well, but for starting purposes, I will focus on the killing other humans, because every day i am feeling innocent people dying and suffering needlessly, all over the world.
If, which most of modern societies laws are based on some derivation of the 10 commandments, then having exceptions for, Thou shalt not kill, easily makes the negation of the other 9 also justifiable. Just like Americas old wild west, "lawless." History has taught us this lesson over and over again. Thousands of years of religious wars and conquests, all of which do include special dispensation for raping, pillaging, plundering, sacking, torturing, brutalizing, lying, cheating, not completely meeting Sabbath day observations, and any other bloody thing needed to, "get the job done."
This is, the first exception to the commandment, thou shalt not kill,
War.
And in "modern war," raping, pillaging, plundering, sacking, torturing, brutalizing, lying, cheating, not completely meeting Sabbath day observations, any bloody thing else to "get the job done," is still justifiable, even if you do need to lie and cover up allot of it for "the good of everyone concerned."
Sadly today's "modern wars," come in many shapes, forms and sizes, "the war on terrorism," "the war on drugs," "the war on homosexuality," "the war on free speech," pretty much anymore, the war on anything that defies the "elite" on the highest level of priority and importance.
As soon as they slap the "war label" on it, there becomes all sorts of justifications that are permissible. Just ask any lawyer.
The main "religious players" on the world map today, are the Jewish, Christian and Muslim. Does anyone realize how long nations built on one of these 3 religions alone, have been fighting wars over Jerusalem. For the Jewish, more then 2000 years. For the Christians, less then 2000 years. For the Muslims, less then 1500 years, but, the predecessors to the Muslims go much further back. The war over Jerusalem, is still being fought today.
Who are the major players ( countries ) in the world today? What do these "players" base their laws on? For the major part, the 10 commandments. For example, in the United States and Great Britain, there is a heavy Christian leaning in most legal and war matters. And yes, I know the Muslims have a slightly different way of looking at those same 10 issues, but the 10 are covered, and the exceptions documented. And trust me, or search for yourself, they all have a whole libraries full of the exceptions and justifications for killing. Yes, I know that other societies have other rules they live by. But I am not looking at those for the moment, I do not see any of them directly threatening the all life on this earth, yet.
After the first exception, war, we begin to fan out into the plethura of "justifiable killing." Basically, depending on who you are, if you break any of the other 9 commandments, there can be a justification to kill.
In the "justifiable killing' category, we begin the process of "prioritizing," human beings and all other life forms. Understand this ...
At the top, are the elite. They represent the highest level of importance, and consider themselves untouchable.
There is almost never any justification for killing an elite person.
In most of the world, the elite are white males, but with enough money, it is possible to "buy" a place as a "sub elite member."
After the elite, with each various degree of person-hood the justifications get more plentiful and easier to justify.
The next noticeable level of separation is between male and female.
*** Sexism ***
It is more easily justifiable, to kill a woman in a majority of the world, today, not just historically. And if you can kill a female, then you can also easily find justification to mistreat, misuse and abuse them. There are libraries full of books describing in graphic detail how and why woman are less important then men, how men are allowed to treat woman, how woman have to treat men and all the reasons why a woman can be killed or beaten.
"Hey, I beat her, I didn't kill her, she deserved it."
Now we have separated out the elite, dealt with woman, what's next?
*** Racism ***
Race, Colour, Ethnicity
This turns into a real mess, so let's make it simple, IF, you are not white you are less important and therefor even less justification is needed to kill a not white person. I am sorry if i make this point way to simple, I mean no offense what so ever to anyone. I think the point is understood though.
With this overly simplified description of my observations, I believe it easy to see how easily everything can be traced, or threaded to, those first exceptions to the commandment "thou shalt not kill." From the worst of war atrocities, to the never ending list of day to day abuses that most people "act" like it is all okay, after all, it is so written in scripture, or they are to scared to death to complain about how badly life sucks.