Talk:Assassination
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by NathanLarson (talk | contribs) at 06:18, March 1, 2010. It may differ significantly from current revision.
Would Jesus be considered an Assassination?--Elamdri 00:52, 13 April 2007 (EDT)
Murder vc. Killing
While you're right that maybe a killing in self-defense wouldn't be "murder," I don't think it would be assassination, either. An assassination is done for the specific purpose of advancing a political agenda - a killing committed for self defense is NOT done primarily to advance a political agenda. As for the assassination of a tyrant being not murder, I'm not sure I agree. If somebody has walked up to Hitler and shot him through the heart, it may have been just, it may have been good, but it would still be murder. JacobB 01:06, 1 March 2010 (EST)
- Consider for instance Judges 3:15-25, in which Ehud assassinates the Moabite king, Eglon. I don't think that would be considered a "murder" in the Exodus 20:13 ("thou shalt not kill") sense. Likewise, might there not be assassinations carried out against tyrannical rulers (e.g. the deliberate targeting of Simon Fraser of Balnain by American sniper Timothy Murphy at Bemis Heights during the American Revolutionary War) that would be justifiable acts of defense of life, liberty and property, and therefore not count as murder? Clearly there is a difference between "murder" and simple "homicide" or "killing," or there would be no need for debate about the wording. Murder refers to something morally wrong, while those other terms are morally neutral. NathanLarson 01:18, 1 March 2010 (EST)