Societal moral codes, that have been ingrained into us. We cannot kill because we have been told that it is wrong? But wrong for whom, wrong for what? And when does kill equal murder? Who makes these decisions? The government? The law? The Church? Ultimately, all our moral codes come from religious backgrounds- in India it's horrible to kill (or murder) because of the influence of Hinduism- but here, in the UK, it's perfectly acceptable, because Christianity does not condemn the death of cattle.
Immediately, any philosopher or sociologist, would ask- where do these religious morals come from? Death to those who are in our way have not always been recognised as 'murder'. Even today, when we kill those innocent civillians in Iraq "for the greater good", we only see them as collatoral damage- not victims of murder. The Iraqis, of course, don't see it like that at all. So therefore we realise that death can be taken in different ways, through different perceptions. So then, what is 'law'?
The creation of International Judicary processes, such as the International Criminal Court system- would indicate that certain laws were 'universal' in human history. But are any laws universal? In the Congo, inter-tribal wars still go on. We condemn the Holocaust, and the Rwandan Genocide- but do those who committed the crimes see them as 'evil'? Therefore, is 'murder' really a universal moral code?
It argueable then to jump, and state that numerous people would agree that 'morality' is what being human is. The differentiation between being an animal and being a human is self-control- and if we follow that stream of thought- morality. Therefore morality is a human construct, and therefore not murdering someone is a construct (perhaps for making us feel different from animals?) This is a sketchy argument, I have to agree, but I'm sure you see where I'm coming from. Is morality, and therefore not committing murder, a way of us trying to seperate ourselves from other animals (here I am going all 'John Gray')?
I don't have any answers, and am in no way supporting murder, or killing things. My own background tells me to be vegetarian, and attempt to practise Ahimsa (or non-violence)- these are my societal moral codes, and therefore I do, in no way, endorse killing other people (or animals, for that matter). However this so-called code of peace and law, is what I question- murder was just an example.
