The scripture reading today is from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. In this section, he talks about anger and reconciliation, but he does so by expanding on the commandment “You shall not murder.” The teaching in this commandment is almost universally accepted. Just about every society in the world, regardless of its religious base — or lack of one — accepts the idea that it is wrong to kill another human being simply because you want to.

            But that brings us to the problem for us in paying attention to this commandment: Most of us consider ourselves so unlikely to ever kill anyone that we give this command little thought, at least as far as we ourselves are concerned. Jesus’ elaboration on this command, however, reveals a more insidious way we may violate this commandment — a way that can do damage as surely as taking a life does.

            But first, let’s go with the more obvious meaning of this commandment. In some Bible versions, it’s rendered as “You shall not kill.” Biblical scholars debate exactly how best to translate the underlying Hebrew verb, but most agree it was not intended to forbid the slaying of animals or the killing of enemies in battle or in self-defense. Thus, “You shall not murder” is a reasonable translation of the commandment.

            This commandment has served humanity well, and respect for human life has grown because of it. Even when someone has claimed an overriding religious, political or moral justification for murder, most students of the Ten Commandments have maintained that the person is wrong.

            For example, several years ago, during one of the times when the Mideast peace process appeared to be making headway, an Israeli citizen, Yigal Amir, assassinated Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Amir then insisted that he had a higher justification for killing hi

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