The "Sixth Commandment"

The Sixth Commandment - Do Not Murder or Do Not Kill?

 Someone posted this on Facebook this morning:  

"Abortion means terminating pregnancy  Terminate means to bring to an end.  The end is death. Therefore, abortion is murder."

Bingo.  It just occurred to me why people quibble over whether the word in the sixth commandment should be translated as "kill" or as "murder."  Translating it as "kill" would infer that putting to death any sentient being is wrong.  But if they translate it as "murder" then they can argue that it only applies to human beings.   Those in favor of abortion refer to an unborn baby as a "fetus"--in other words, not human yet.  But they cannot deny that it is a sentient being.  Interestingly enough, as I've written elsewhere, even  anti-abortionists get very upset when their "pro-life" designator is called into question.  Everyone draws a line for whose life is valuable, but Yah says ALL life is valuable and we do not have the right to take the life of any sentient being.

I have often heard people claim that it's o.k. to kill someone in self-defense.  But is it really?  Our Messiah said, 

Mat 5:38  "Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: 39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also."

It doesn't sound to me like he would condone the taking of a life under any circumstances.  As a matter of fact, he did not fight back or resist even when his own life was being taken.

Do we really believe and follow his teachings, or is it all merely lip service?

Yes, the way is narrow, which leads to life, and few find it.

I am a pacifist.  I do not believe in taking the life of another under any circumstances.

Who Are the True "Pro-Lifers"?

Some guy by the name of Michael Edds (Senior Pastor at East Laurinburg Pentecostal Holiness) recently had this to say on Facebook:

"There are people who are so concerned about gay rights, women's rights, minority rights, animal rights and everybody else's rights but have no concern for the rights of 60 million babies murdered through abortion. Where is the concern for the millions more who will be slaughtered the next four years?? That is what I call pure hypocrisy!! TAKE A GOOD LOOK AT THE LIVES OF REAL HUMAN BEINGS MURDERED AND DUMPED INTO THE TRASH CAN!! SHAME ON YOU ALL!!!!"

While I do agree there are many people who are not concerned about human beings and their right to life, it irks me to no end that he has made the assumption that people who are concerned about ANIMAL rights aren't concerned about HUMAN rights. ARE YOU SERIOUS?  As a matter of fact, MOST animals rights folks are MORE concerned about the rights of ALL sentient beings than anti-abortionists.  I personally have been chased off anti-abortion sites simply because I suggested that anti-abortionists are not really pro-life UNLESS they are pro-ALL-life, including that of animals. This guy has a lot chutzpah to make the statements he made, and then to SHAME everyone indiscriminately?  I am so tempted to ask him when the last time was that he ate chicken, turkey or beef or drank a glass of milk, hence costing the life of a sentient being who loves his life and also feels pain just like we do.  This man's comments are over the top. How dare he make such outrageous assumptions!

Update

Last night, I PM'd Mr. Edds and asked him if he is vegan.  His reply was no.  I then asked if he was vegetarian.  As of this morning, I have not received a reply, so here is the follow-up message I sent:

"You probably wonder why I am asking these questions.  It is because of a post of yours that came across my news feed via a mutual friend wherein you stated:

"There are people who are so concerned about gay rights, women's rights, minority rights, animal rights and everybody else's rights but have no concern for the rights of 60 million babies murdered through abortion. Where is the concern for the millions more who will be slaughtered the next four years?? That is what I call pure hypocrisy!! TAKE A GOOD LOOK AT THE LIVES OF REAL HUMAN BEINGS MURDERED AND DUMPED INTO THE TRASH CAN!! SHAME ON YOU ALL!!!!"

"You said you are not vegan and I am going to assume that you probably are [not] vegetarian either.  I understand your passion, but you have not gone far enough, my friend, AND you have shamed a large group of people who are more righteous than you.  I am sure there are people who, like you, are limited as to whom they feel compassion for, but my guess would be that most of the people who are animal rights activists, for instance, are more compassionate than you are because most of them are against the slaughter of any sentient being, whether human or animal.  You, on the other hand, if you are still a flesh eater, have no such compassion for other sentient beings who also value their lives and who also feel pain just like we do.  

"Let's say you are vegetarian, just for the sake of argument.  Do you have any idea as to the pain and suffering you cause because of the just the milk and eggs you eat?  (If you are still eating flesh, it is even worse.)  Please Google the phrase "Factory Farming" and get an education as to what it costs animals just so that you can enjoy your milk and eggs.  It's not a pretty picture, in spite of what the meat and dairy industry tries to paint.  Most people are completely ignorant of the facts about this, so I am not faulting you necessarily.  I fault the ones who know the truth, but continue to condone the slaughter anyway.  Baby cows are taken from their mothers right after birth and are then slaughtered for veal, so that YOU can have THEIR milk to drink.  The veal industry was created because the dairy industry didn't know what to do with all the calf corpses they created.  They do not need more than a very few of the male calves, so they slaughter them.  The same is true with chickens.  Most male baby chicks are thrown into a grinder alive or are suffocated in plastic bags because only the females are desirable for their eggs for a few years until they, too, are slaughtered to be eaten.  Where I live, I could have up to 25 female hens, but not even one rooster.  Do you think the hatcheries are going to house, feed, and care for all those roosters for their natural lives of 14-15 years?  Not on your life.  The hens are packed into cages so tightly that they have no room to move and they are generally debeaked (a painful procedure for the bird) so they won't peck each other.  Cows are also kept in extremely tight confinement on factory farms.  They can't even turn around.  Some cows do have it a little better.  I grew up near dairy farms and I know they were all out in areas where they could move around, but even so, the rest of the cruelty still applies, particularly when they go to the slaughter houses.  We had one shut down here because the of the extremely cruel and inhumane treatment of the animals.

"Did you know that 2000 years ago, most of the Jewish/Christian believers were vegetarian?  (They didn't have factory farming then, so eating the milk and eggs wasn't as costly to the animals.)  They were also pacifists, forbidden to even go into the military.  They reverenced life--all life, not just some life.  We are told that the meek (non-violent) will be the inheritors of the earth, are we not?

"The next time you decide to point your finger at a group of people, please make certain you aren't painting yourself as a hypocrite.  Better yet, join the ranks of the truly compassionate and become vegan--for ethical reasons.  You will also reap the huge benefit of better health and the joy of knowing that you are not contributing to the suffering of any other sentient being."

***

  

One can only hope the response will be favorable. 

Resources:

Inland Daily Bulletin story:  http://www.dailybulletin.com/slaughterhouse

Chino Slaughter house story: