In the post below on Natural Right, I cited Aquinas’ philosophical account. If any of you happen to prefer to reason from Scripture, here is an article on the subject.
From the linked-to post: ...do we have a God-given right to protect ourselves and others from harm?
I approach this from a slightly different and more direct perspective. Our lives are God's gift to us. As such we have much more than a right to protect ourselves and others, we have a duty to protect God's gift. And that requires not just an effort at defense, but the duty to possess the means with which to make a serious (if in the occasion, perhaps unsuccessful) effort at defense.
But taking the gift away from another? That other's object is to destroy God's gift to me, my destroying his life is not my object, but a sometimes unavoidable (perhaps because necessary) outcome of my defense.
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From the linked-to post: ...do we have a God-given right to protect ourselves and others from harm?
I approach this from a slightly different and more direct perspective. Our lives are God's gift to us. As such we have much more than a right to protect ourselves and others, we have a duty to protect God's gift. And that requires not just an effort at defense, but the duty to possess the means with which to make a serious (if in the occasion, perhaps unsuccessful) effort at defense.
But taking the gift away from another? That other's object is to destroy God's gift to me, my destroying his life is not my object, but a sometimes unavoidable (perhaps because necessary) outcome of my defense.
Eric Hines
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