The Sixth commandment says: "Thou shall not kill" (Exodus 20:13). That is the shortest and most direct of the commandments. But is its meaning that simple? Or do we human beings try to make it complicated by arguing about what it means? In the Judeao-Christian traditions, this has been taken to mean referring to humans. Not like some religions that don't even allow killing animals, even insects. This does not mean all living things do not have value.
We read how God gave Noah and his family permission to eat animals. Genesis 9:3 said: "Every moving thing that lives shall be meat for you; even as the green herb I have given you all things." We don't have to be vegetarians, although there is nothing wrong with that. In the same chapter, vs. 6 it says, "Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God made He man." That's why humans get different treatment. They are made in God's image. That's why we have no right to put an end to a human life, from conception to the grave. That's why many believers don't even think it's right to carry out capital punishment – the death penalty. The verse above may suggest it is acceptable. However, if we study the life and sayings of Christ, which came after, we don’t believe we find support for the idea of capital punishment.
This is why we cannot support abortion at one end of life, or mercy-killing, euthanasia, at the other end of life. We believe that life is sacred, all of it, as the saying goes, "from the cradle to the grave." God gave us life. Only God can take it away. Of course, we know that life is really actually eternal, but we are talking about life on earth.
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