The 5th Commandment, Not So Black And White.

[White Knight]

[u]The Catechism of the Catholic Church.[/u]
Article 5:

[u]Subject:[/u]
The Fifth Commandment
#5 "Thou shalt not commit murder"

[u]Source:[/u]
Page #603-605

2263 [b]"The legitimate defense of persons and societies is not an exception to the prohibition against the murder of an innocent that constitutes intentional killing." "The act of self-defense can have a double effect: the preservation of one's own life; and the killing of the aggresor...The one is attended, the other is not.""[/b]

2264 [b]"Love toward oneself remains a fundamental principle of morality. Therefore it is legitimate to insist on respect for one's own life to life. [u]Someone who defends his life is not guilty of murder even if he is forced to deal his aggressor a lethal blow:"[/u][/b]

[b]"If a man in self self-defense uses more than necessary violence, it will be unlawful: whereas if he repels force with moderation his defense will be lawful. Nor is it necessary for salvation that a man omit the act of moderate self defense to avoid killing the other man since [u]one is bound to take more care of one's own life than of another's.[/u]"[/b]

2265 [b]"[u]Legititmate defense can be not only a right but a grave duty for one who is responsible for the lives of others.[/u] [b]The Defense of the common good requires that an unjust aggressor be rendered unable to cause harm. For this reason those who legitimately hold authority also have the right to use arms to repel aggressors against the civil community entrusted to their responsbility"[/b][/b]

2266 [color="#0000FF"][b]"The efforts of the state to curb the spread of behavior harmful to people's rights and to the basic rules of civil society correspond to the requirement of safeguard ing the common good . Legitimate public authority has the right and the duty to inflict punishment proportionate to the gravity of the offense. Punishment has the primary aim of redressing the disorder introduced by the offense. When it is willingly accepted by the guilty party, it assumes the value of expiation . Punishment then, in addition to defending public order and protecting people's safety, has a medicinal purpose: as far as possible, it must contribute to the correction of the guility party."[/b][/color]

2267 [b]"[u]Assuming that the guility party's idenity and responsiblity have been fully determinated, the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penality, if that is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressors. If however, non lethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people's safetly from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means, as these are more in keeping with concrete conditions of the common good and more in conformity with the dignity of the human person.[/u] Today, in fact as a consequence of the possibilities which the state has for effectively preventing crime, by rendering one who has committed an offense incapable of doing harm without definitively taking away from him the possibility of redeeming himself- the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity are very rare, if not practically non-existent."[/b]


So my question is to judge a action of a just or unjust person.

[size=3][b]The attentions and cirumstances of the person or persons matter greatly to determine, the difference between a crime, a just act, and/or accident correct? Rather its Murder, Killing, or Self Defense.[/b][/size]

Please discuss, and Thank You.

God Bless, Pax Christi
White Knight

Edited June 5, 2008 by White Knight

[Galloglasses]

I'm pretty sure I'd end up killing someone if they were trying to kill me

[Thy Geekdom Come]

I think the Church's teaching on this is pretty clear...and also quite black and white. If you have some black pixels and some white pixels mixed together, they appear that way up close, but look gray when you back away.

[Galloglasses]

[quote name='Raphael' post='1564581' date='Jun 9 2008, 10:23 AM']I think the Church's teaching on this is pretty clear...and also quite black and white. If you have some black pixels and some white pixels mixed together, they appear that way up close, but look gray when you back away.[/quote]
Woah,

You just, like, described my justification for my black and white veiws on nearly...everything

[Justin86]

[quote name='Raphael' post='1564581' date='Jun 10 2008, 01:23 AM']If you have some black pixels and some white pixels mixed together, they appear that way up close, but look gray when you back away.[/quote]
Was there an anology there that I missed?

[Veridicus]

Somewhere I read/heard that the hebrew word used in one of the places in the OT where the ten commandments are enumerated could be better translated as "kill illicitly" rather than "kill." Which, if it's true, pretty much takes care of the whole issue in my mind. I think this understanding underscores the entire catechism elaboration on the subject.

Peace.

[Alycin]

Wait, what's the question?