[geeks] Re: [rescue] It's official, the U.S. is screwed for 4 more years

[Phil Stracchino]

On Tue, Nov 09, 2004 at 11:43:25AM -0500, velociraptor wrote:
> Morals seem clear cut and black and white, but when you put it in
> context, I think it's never simplistic.  For instance, I doubt that
> anyone would argue that killing is "morally" acceptable.  But when you
> frame the discussion in the context of say, chasing down terrorists in
> another sovereign nation, the ground becomes a little less clear-cut.

I think it's context-dependent, as your terrorism example points out.  I
have absolutely no problem with the idea of killing someone who's
attempting to kill me or one of my family, say, or burn my house down,
or who plans to conquer my country and enslave the population.

The thing with a lot of these "moral" decisions made based on the
Bible is that half the time, they get'em wrong anyway.  Of course, this
is hardly surprising when you consider the idea that the Authorized
King James V Bible is the verbatim word of God and literally true even
when it contradicts itself.

For example:  The Old Testament, commonly regarded as the more barbaric
and bloody part of the Bible, says (or is almost universally
mistranslated as saying) "Thou shalt not kill."  But it also says, "Thou
shalt not suffer a well-poisoner to live" ('witch' is a mistranslation),
and "If a man comes to kill you, then rise up and kill him."

Heck, in the Garden of Gethsemane, according to the Bible, Jesus is
supposed to have said "Him that hath no sword, let him sell his cloak
and buy a sword."  And a sword, more so than any gun, is made solely for
killing people with.  You can go hunting with a gun to put food on the
table, but just try hunting deer, or wild boar, or pheasant, with a
shortsword.


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