Unjust taking of life a major sin

Arthur R. Bassett wrote an in-depth article on "Thou shalt not kill" in the Ensign Magazine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in August of 1994 and noted the larger issue of violence.

"The Sixth Commandment's injunction to avoid murder is the minimum standard. The Savior's example points to a higher level: enhancement of life for others," he wrote.

"Though comparatively few mortals are seriously tempted to kill, many of us are more deeply affected by violations of this law than we realize. Peace continues to elude us in a world where killing is often an instrument of political strategy or personal gain. We seem to need a modern smoking Sinai from whose heights God might thunder down in power again: 'Thou shalt not kill."'

The Doctrine and Covenants, modern scripture for LDS Church members, states in section 56, verse six:: "Thou shalt not ... kill, nor do anything like unto it."

This could refer to suicide, abortion, mercy killing and even a knowing transmittal of the AIDS virus, Bassett wrote.

Bassett also quoted Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve, addressing suicide:

"I feel that judgment for sin is not always as cut-and-dried as some of us seem to think," Elder Ballard said. "The Lord said, 'Thou shalt not kill.' Does that mean that every person who kills will be condemned, no matter the circumstances? Civil law recognizes that there are gradations in this matter — from accidental manslaughter to self-defense to first-degree murder. I feel that the Lord also recognizes differences in intent and circumstance."

What about the killing of animals?

"I have always been intrigued by a lesson that the Prophet Joseph Smith gave to the brethren who marched with Zion's Camp," Bassett wrote in his Ensign article. "That group, organized in response to revelation, was prepared to face armed conflict with the persecutors of the members of the church in Missouri — to give their lives or to take lives in defense of others, if necessary.

"Yet the prophet prevented them even from killing three rattlesnakes they found in one of their camps. 'Let them alone — don't hurt them!' he commanded. 'How will the serpent ever lose its venom, while the servants of God possess the same disposition and continue to make war upon it? Men must become harmless before the brute creation, and when men lose their vicious dispositions and cease to destroy the animal race, the lion and the lamb can dwell together, and the sucking child can play with the serpent in safety."'

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E-mail: lynn@desnews.com