Legality, ethics and murder [test draft]

Laws pertaining to murder distinguish various kinds of killings. There is ...

[I don't have a legal background, or much of an ethical one)

however much legal justification for certain kinds of killings and not others.

I do not believe I would kill anyone. I do find it necessary to at least relay my feelings, opinions and observations, which is what a blog is for.

It is clear that seismic shifts in the definition of what is murder and how it is treated can and do occur. I believe that as a pagan, I would like to be extremely careful about what I claim is justifiable or not given firstly the desire to be rid of war, of the rampant killings of women and other vulnerable populations but on the other hand the long history of religious "sacrifice."

In the neo-pagan tradition it is said that the Goddess requires "aught" of sacrifice. I believe that given what is historically known about human religions that the possible violation of that tenet could someday happen and that it would involve a great shift of power toward people whose violent impulses at this time are not acceptable and to an official priesthood.

It may sound like this is an issue which involves retreading tiresome journeys already completed or at best far removed from today's reality. In fact there is a likelihood of an increase in religiously based assassination far beyond the reprisal killings one may associate with only some extremist groups. For instance, the killing of Osama bin Laden probably would not have happened without a prior increase in religious conflict and ranks as a dangerous precedent in my view for American politics. Why should anyone else now not practice something similar against us?

Also the level of violence against the transgendered, women, the continued race-based violence of certain official bodies and other categories of murder do not seem to be simply decreasing...