Monday, September 13, 2010

Tao Bible - Exodus 20:13

Thou shalt not kill.
~ King James version ~

For each being to survive, it must kill.
~ possible Taoist alternative ~
This is the sixth biblical commandment. In its purest sense, God tells us that killing is wrong. As to Christian doctrine, this line is often interpreted as relating to murder.

In order to live, all beings kill other beings. In terms of humans, we must kill to eat. This is as true for the meat-eater as it is for the vegetarian and vegan.

Where we humans go wrong is that we often kill for reasons other than sheer survival. We too often kill for concepts like pride, anger, jealousy and because we covet what others have.

If you're interested in reading more from this experimental series, go to the Tao Bible Index page.

2 comments:

  1. this i think is the commandment with the most hypocracy. god kills on a regular basis and even commands his followers to do the same. and then turns around and says "do not kill."

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  2. I think it's actually supposed to read "thou shalt not murder" meaning don't kill illegally. That is, don't kill your fellow Israelite, unless you're stoning them for some offense; not to mention, of course, war, which is legal.

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