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"Thou Shalt Not Kill"?

December 14, 2007
By Anonymous

What if hunting was wrong? What if hunting for a purpose was wrong? What if we couldn’t kill our food? Would we become vegetarians? Would we starve or freeze to death in the winter? Well, I believe that killing for a purpose is not wrong.

“Thou shall not kill”. That is what it says in the Ten Commandments. But I did not know if it was for hunting and fishing. So as usual I asked. I asked my priest “does hunting and fishing go against the 6th commandment” his response was “hunting and fishing do not go against the ten commandments if you have a purpose, such as for food or for clothing”

After I asked about hunting and fishing, I went hunting. Even if he said it was wrong. I would still hunt and fish. I have killed deer, turkey, and squirrel. One day my cousin in-law called me to go hunting. Well, we went to my uncle’s farm. We got ready to go; we packed up our ammo and anything else we might need. We set off to go hunt for squirrel. We were gone for 7 hours. Out of the 7 hours we bagged 11. I got 6 and John got 5. We went to 3 different locations to hunt on my uncle’s farm. My cousin in-law got the last one, when he shot the bullet hit the squirrel and it clung to the tree and finally fell down, but when it fell it got caught between a split tree and started kicking his legs. But we had a purpose for killing them because when we got home we skinned them and deep fried them. They were delicious.


Unlike hunting, I would wave to say that being scaled and gutted alive would suck. Yes, I am talking about fish. When you catch a fish they are usually alive. So when you gut them, they are still alive, normally. Land animals are usually dead when you clean them. I have caught many fish, from bluegill to trout to bass to musky to catfish and many other fish. Catfish and trout are the best fresh water fish I have had. Me and my uncle went on a fishing trip for trout. Well, we were their for abut 12 hours. We caught 14 in all, but my uncle of curse, caught more than me. He got 8 and I got 6, I had a bad day. And we ate them so we had a reason.

Wrong? No, not wrong! Especially if you have a purpose. Like clothing which requires the animals fur or for food. Asking a priest helped me clear it all up it can help you to.

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JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 24 comments.

Caleb.Andrews said...
on Jan. 20 2015 at 8:23 pm
Caleb.Andrews, London, Other
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Multi vad, putini pricep.

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Mr.packerbear12 SILVER said...
on Mar. 18 2014 at 6:00 pm
Mr.packerbear12 SILVER, Minnesota Lake, Minnesota
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We call that a vision, read the rest of the chapter and it says what the meaning of the dream is. It was because peter thought that eating with gentiles was unclean and God was telling him it was not.
Mr.packerbear12 SILVER said...
on Mar. 18 2014 at 5:59 pm
Mr.packerbear12 SILVER, Minnesota Lake, Minnesota
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Took the words right out of my mouth!:p
TargonTheDragon GOLD said...
on May. 14 2013 at 4:26 pm
TargonTheDragon GOLD, Ofallon, Missouri
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ok, heres my two cents,   the bible makes it clear that the issue is "thou shalt not MURDER" and as said in multiple other comments, murder is different than kill. otherwise we would be sinning everytime we swat a mosquito or housefly.  also the bible (and if you want verses, ill lookem up) says that God gave man power over animals. another thing to mention is that animals are not sentient such as humans. they feel the bare minimum of any kind of emotion, and we call that instinct. they can feel pain, and fear, but its on a toned down level, thats why we refer to them as "animal instincts". some animals posess certain emotions and instincts in higher amounts than other though, such as a dog. which can you see loving you more, your dog or your fish? we dont kill dogs to eat, because they resemble us more closely, whereas we kill fish, deer, squirrels, etc. for food because they are the least like us. see what im getting at?   anyway, im not at all saying anything but my opinion,  you are free to disagree. i know some people are sensetive to killing anything, and i respect that. at one point, i felt bad about killing the tick that i found on my arm:P so i know what it feels like. 
VandalSpirit DIAMOND said...
on Jul. 10 2012 at 9:22 pm
VandalSpirit DIAMOND, Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin
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If you look at Acts 10:13, it actually proves your point! "Then a voice said to him, 'Get up, Peter; kill and eat!'" Just thought I'd mention the verse :)
zorbaz said...
on May. 27 2012 at 8:12 am

I don't think it was an argument more than it was advise.

 

Bryan said...
on May. 16 2012 at 1:26 am

Actually, Deathward22, If you had paid attention, he said quite clearly that he and his family ate the meat after killing the animal.  A lot of people enjoy hunting because it feels like they've earned their meal.

Sure, you could easily go to the grocery store, and pick up a prepacked animal to cook, but that doesn't teach you respect for the natural order.  In total, they bagged 25 deer in the two trips.  

I'm assuming that they preserve or freeze a lot of the meat, so really, that's not as bad as the minority of hunters that just hunt for sport.  

I'm not a big hunter, but even I know a few things about deer, and if you don't hunt them occasionally, there is a high probability that they will end up overpopulate, and die of starvation.  In truth, hunters are doing them a favor.

Muharib said...
on May. 5 2012 at 9:48 pm
I actually veiw this article rather pointless. Like seriously, doesn't everybody know that the 6th commandment was talking about murdering PEOPLE not animals. The entire argument is stupid and does not apply to anything of 10 commandments. And this term of "kill" is totally being misinterpreted. The bible itself says 'there's a time to kill' and like I've said the 6th commandment is referring to MURDER not fighting a war, not hunting, or any othr important life-or-death cause that'd require violence.
camohunter19 GOLD said...
on Dec. 14 2011 at 6:59 pm
camohunter19 GOLD, Sedro-Woolley, Washington
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Your writing sounded blocky, work on it. Other than that, the story was tremendous. I share the same beliefs as you. And I qoute "If fishing is a religon, then fly-fishing is the high-church"
deathward22 said...
on Dec. 3 2011 at 9:39 pm
deathward22, Los Alamos, New Mexico
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I liked your peice but i dont think you had a purpose when you went hunting or fishing. you have plenty of food and really have no need to hunt, your really just hunting to kill. A real purpose would have been to feed your family when you had absolutly nothing to eat.
Love said...
on Jul. 7 2011 at 2:14 pm
All kinds of creatures want to live. No body wants to be eaten even a small tiny spider. No ones want to feel paint, suffering, and scared. Imagine you are chasing by a Dinosaur or any bigger creature, it thinks you are its food. So if you believe in God and believe that you will be reborn, you might want to think twice before killing any creature for any purpose. You are killing them and you know you are not creating friendship with them. Once reborn, you all will meet again and repay for what you did in the past. It's your choice and I m a vegeterian. If you cause pain and suffering, you will live a life of pain and suffering. So use your brain and think. Don't trust anything that your priests say. Because they want to eat meat and they will say meat is ok to eat. So unintelligent. 
teacat749 BRONZE said...
on Jun. 26 2011 at 4:46 pm
teacat749 BRONZE, Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin
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Animals are just as innocent as humans. More so, actaully, as they are not the ones killing the Earth. And don't try to tell me that God made Earth for humans, because if that was true, wouldn't we be destroying the gift?
secrets_of_silence GOLD said...
on May. 19 2011 at 7:47 pm
secrets_of_silence GOLD, Gisborne, Other
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HUNTING  is and was a nessesity people. adam hunted way back at the beguinning and lots of people beleive that you find god in the wilderness and HUNTING is a good reason to be there in the wilderness
Shadow878 GOLD said...
on May. 19 2011 at 3:56 pm
Shadow878 GOLD, Marion, Indiana
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hey just saying it's cool to be a vegetarian but remeber the circle of life. If things are killed and eaten then poputlaions would get out of control but vegentarians seem to have the best health.
Shadow878 GOLD said...
on May. 19 2011 at 3:54 pm
Shadow878 GOLD, Marion, Indiana
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&quot;I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.&quot; Matthew 18:3<br /> <br /> &quot;Do not pray for easy lives, pray to be stronger men.&quot; JFK<br /> <br /> &ldquo;Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.&rdquo;Albert Einstein<br /> <br /> &quot;I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.&quot;<br /> C. S. Lewis <br /> <br /> &quot;A young man who wishes to remain a sound atheist cannot be too careful of his reading.&quot;<br /> C. S. Lewis <br /> <br /> &quot;Anyone who doesn&rsquo;t believe in miracles is not a realist.&quot;<br /> David Ben-Gurion<br /> <br /> &quot;An eye for an eye makes the world go blind&quot; Gandi

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when kill was translated from hebrew it lost it's meaning. The meaning of the hebrew word was like murder. Basically killing without a just cause.
PuzzleLuver SILVER said...
on Nov. 24 2010 at 6:36 pm
PuzzleLuver SILVER, Powell, Ohio
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"Thou shalt not kill" is talking about killing humans not animals. We should not hill humans but we are allowed to kill animals to eat, because that is what God put them there for.
LexiB SILVER said...
on Nov. 2 2010 at 8:12 am
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I think that although the Bible says Thou Shalt Not Kill, God also gave the animals to us.
M.W.M. BRONZE said...
on May. 28 2010 at 9:14 am
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the moral law of it as would be recognized by ancient Israel as "Do not murder". Well, what's murder? Murder is the unlawful taking of another innocent individual human's life.

"Thou shalt not KILL" is a bad translation. It should be "murder".

Flipper said...
on Feb. 5 2010 at 4:08 pm
The commandment is talking about humans, not animals. You can go and kill all the animals you want (as long as it's not breaking the law).
Sw33t_M3cA BRONZE said...
on Sep. 4 2009 at 5:33 pm
Sw33t_M3cA BRONZE, Virgin Islands, Other
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Ok yea the bible does say thou must not kill and I believe it to be true. But here is where i disagree your kinda taking it out of context. Ask yourself, Why did God allow the Isrealites to kill and battle for what really he could've make them drown themselves, yet that is not my point. If killing for food is what your really getting at (cause I'm not really sure), In Acts 10 God told Peter to kill and eat, now that is after the Ten Commandments so I know God is one to contradict himself so what was that all about. Well, if you research the bible to it's fullest (which i believe noone can really do. But you can try) you see that Jesus Christ died so all the commandment stuff can be clear. I mean he died for a reason the commandment are rule and not all follow... so jus reconsider or at least think about it... my opinion.