Difference between Killing and Murder

[ajaxfetish]

I would say:
Murder you kill someone who isn't able to defend himself.
Killing you kill someone who is able to defend himself AND poses a threat at the same time.

as for these:
1. Killing, accident
2. Killing, tho he's more guilty then the man at the waterline
3. since he's drunk Murder, it isn't allowed to be that drunk
4. Murder, Gun arms are not allowed
5. Killing, it's war, soldiers are trained to kill and die
6. Murder, since these were defenceless people

I'm a little confused because you lump the first 2 examples in as killing, though they don't fit your definition of killing (ie, you kill someone who is able to defend himself AND poses a threat at the same time. How were the kid and the person burned by the fire posing a threat to the man digging the hole or the smoking teens?

Also, #4 you call murder because 'Gun arms are not allowed.' I do not know what you mean by this. Is it a local law where you live that you're referring to? A larger ethical standpoint? If so wouldn't that make the soldiers' killing in war also murder, if they used guns to do the killing? Does this mean self-defense from rape using a knife to kill the man would have been just killing, whereas the gun made it murder? Very confusing statement.

Ajax

[Somebody Else]

As I see it, the morality of going to war is not the responsibility of the soldier, it is his conduct within the war. So, if the war is judged to be unjust at the end of it (ie. they lose) then the soldier is not guilty of a crime - he went to war, and perhaps killed someone perfectly legally. However, if he forced a PoW to bomb up a magazine for him, he's guilty of a war crime, even if his CO ordered him to.