Thou shalt not kill...unless

Every evening when you turn on the news, tragic stories headline people being killed. Trials are held for cold blooded murderers and people cry as spouses and children are convicted for the “accidental” murder of a relative. If there was ever one of God’s Ten Commandments that was more important but never followed, it would have to be “Thou shalt not kill.” One thing the Old Testament culture (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) values above all else is human life. Abraham argues with God in Genesis to have Him spare the city of Sodom because of all the innocent people he found in the city. Noah does the same at the time of the great flood. He asks God to spare the “pure” people of the earth. Since life is seen as a virtue throughout the Bible, the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” stands out as the most important of the Ten Commandments.
However, this most important of commandments from God is also the most neglected. Like I mentioned above, all you hear about when you turn on the evening news are the murders from that day. People become outraged when a high profile person is shot or killed, but when we pay people to commit mass murder in other countries we deem as “uncivilized,” suddenly “Thou shalt not kill” becomes, “Thou shalt not kill…unless the people are different from you and they do not agree with your ideals.” Other examples of people’s blatant disregard for human life come from more historical accounts, such as the crusades. The commandment “Thou shalt not kill” is therefore the most important because we hold life in such high regard, but also the most ignored since we keep standing armies of people ready to kill for money.