Swedishguy
Deity
I wonder why Saddam was being put on trial because of murder, then there was a war and everything. War is murder when it's politically correct.
What is murder?
- Thread starter puglover
- Start date
sirtommygunn
Emperor
murder is wrong yes but when goverment says its ok then its ok (not my opinion) in my opinion though unless god himself tells you to murder somebody its wrong but if somebody murders somebody else or causes the death of somebody else i still think they should die by the death sentence but if they kill more then one person just put them in a jail cell to starve to death
vikingruler
King
Hussein was put on trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Like when he slaughtered the Kurd village of Halabja in March 1988, it was in Iraq and he used chemical weapons. It wasn't war, he committed genocide on an innocent village with terrible weapons.
nonconformist
Miserable
So would, for example, the Holocaust not be murder?
That would be, but then the Jews/Poles/homosexuals/feeble minded weren't enemy combatants, fine line, but it's definitely murder.
nonconformist
Miserable
But the holocaust was well within the legal structure of Nazi Germany.
And it was also used to kill enemy illegal combattants.
It would still be murder, but my definition was for contemporary murder, not necessarily historical murder. Obviously the Geneva Conventions had not constructed the rules of warfare yet, but had they existed, Hitler's Holocaust would have been defined as murder. We apply our modern definition of murder to call the Holocaust murder.
Swedishguy
Deity
Don't you think it was an excuse to kill the guy everyone hate? Misunderstand me right, but weren't Hussein the leader of the conflict...?
I agree that murder is primarily a legal term. As a non-legal term, it simply means an act of killing which someone beliefs is unethical - so saying that people disagree over what is murder is simply another way of saying people disagree when it's okay to kill someone.
However, the term can also apply to international law. So the holocaust was not murder in German law, but was a violation of international law - I think it's still reasonable therefore to refer to it as murder.
However, the term can also apply to international law. So the holocaust was not murder in German law, but was a violation of international law - I think it's still reasonable therefore to refer to it as murder.
I don't see how that contradicts the idea that murder is a legal term - just because something isn't murder doesn't mean I think it is ethical.
Fair enough, but I don't think that was Xanikk's point.
The immoral forceble intentional taking of another's life; Taking anothers life without moral justification.
By forceble, I mean that it is forced upon the target; assisted suiside is not murder (not saying it's right tough).
Murder is also a legal term, in which case the definition is given by law, but may be different from the above.
By forceble, I mean that it is forced upon the target; assisted suiside is not murder (not saying it's right tough).
Murder is also a legal term, in which case the definition is given by law, but may be different from the above.
Irish Caesar
Yellow Jacket
Murder is killing. It is just as wrong in anarchy as it is in a democratic government, so I can't agree that it is a legal thing.
International law seems like the most ridiculously arbitrary thing out there. Who comes up with it? It's not put to international public referendum or anything...
International law seems like the most ridiculously arbitrary thing out there. Who comes up with it? It's not put to international public referendum or anything...
So all killing is murder?
Sure, it's somewhat arbitrary, but nonetheless, it exists to some degree, and is no more ridiculous than saying the holocaust was legal.
Old Spice
King
All killing outside of self defense is murder in my book. This is one of the few things that is final in my mindset.
Irish Caesar
Yellow Jacket
It was, but it was so awful that it should have been prosecuted. "Inventing" international law was the way to do that. Better than letting the Holocaust go unpunished, I'm sure, but creating a law to hang someone smacks of revenge over justice.
Having said that, I don't think I've ever spoken against revenge...
Bozo Erectus
Master Baker
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- 22,389
Just a word and nowhere near as important as what its supposed to represent. We get too hung up on words. 'What is the West?' 'What is murder?' 'Is it a civil war or not?' 'Is it a surge or an escalation?' 'Is it genocide or ethnic cleansing?' on and on all day long, every day in the media. We're more focused on our labels than the things we're labelling.
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