Video Transcript

Edmund: Okay, we’ve all heard the Commandment “You shall not commit murder.” But maybe you’ve thought like I have: what about a situation where you have to fight for your life; you have to defend yourself from someone trying to kill you? I mean, have you ever thought about what you’d do in that situation? Is it always a sin to murder? That’s a weird question. What about self-defense? Let’s talk about it. 

So what is Jesus calling us to? He says this in Matthew Chapter 5:“You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, ‘You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment” (Matthew 5:21-22). So what are we to make of this? Well, the Commandments speak explicitly on grave matters. But they also inform us about God’s way of viewing the world. And God invites us to HIS life of love and communion and fellowship with Him AND with our neighbors. 

And the Catechism reminds us that this Commandment requires us to NOT kill or take another life because we are required to protect life—ALL life—at all costs—whenever possible. 

But see, there’s a big difference between intending to proactively harm someone and intending just to defend your life. And these are the two things we have to hold in tension. We’re called to protect our own life, AND other peoples’ lives, even the lives of our enemies. Because we do not have the right to ANYONE’s  life.

This doesn’t mean we need to just take it when people are hurting us. We don’t need to just lie down and allow someone to harm us or kill us. But it does mean we should avoid at all costs taking someone’s life. It’s a last resort. And not just killing someone; just harming someone in general. Intentionally harming someone just because they have harmed us or they will harm us, that isn’t self-defense. See, that’s just retaliation based in anger. And it doesn’t respect God’s gift of life and the dignity of the human person. I mean, police officers talk about de-escalating a situation and you have to ask yourself “Is this actually necessary? Is there any other option? And will this action escalate the situation or  de-escalate it?”

And for sure, we should avoid at all costs harming—or  even killing—someone we deem is “evil” or beyond forgiveness or redemption. Because that’s putting ourselves in the place of God.

Okay, let’s turn to the Catechism. In paragraph 2263 it says: “The legitimate defense of persons and societies is not an exception to the prohibition against the murder of the innocent that constitutes intentional killing. The act of self-defense can have a double effect: the preservation of one’s own life; and the killing of the aggressor. … The one is intended, the other is not.” So here we see that there’s a difference between murder and killing unintentionally. Murder is an INTENDED killing, whereas self-defense is not intentional killing, especially if we’re doing everything we can to avoid at all costs taking someone’s life. I mean, this is even for some people surprising advice that I’ve heard from ex-Navy Seals like Jocko Willink: “If you are a big monster human and you want to fight me, and you square off with me, guess what I’m gonna do? Run away. ‘Cause I don’t wanna get involved.”

Now this can be complicated because Jesus says to turn the other cheek or to forgive others when they wrong us. And He even goes so far as to rebuke Peter when Peter tries to defend Him and strike someone with a sword. How do we make sense of this? Well, Jesus knew the will of the Father. He knew that He must lay down His life willingly; allow Himself to be arrested and crucified as part of God’s plan of redemption and salvation. 

The Catechism goes on to explain “Love towards oneself remains a fundamental principle of morality. Therefore, it is legitimate to insist on respect for one’s right to life. Someone who defends his life is not guilty of murder even if he is forced to deal his aggressor a lethal blow.” And see, this requires discernment. I mean, we have to hold these things in tension: love for our neighbors, love for our own life, and respecting and defending BOTH as much as possible. 

There are times where God is calling us to lay down our life as martyrs. But there are also times where God is calling us to defend our life. 

You see, the life of love that Jesus calls us to is not blind pacifism, but it is a call to defend and respect all life. We’re called even to try and defend and respect the life of our enemies. And that is VERY different than intentionally deciding to harm or even murder someone out of anger or for any other reason. We should never retaliate, physically or otherwise. We don’t have to put up with it. We can defend ourselves by getting away, removing ourselves from the situation, asking  someone for help, or even telling this person to stop. But it would be wrong to retaliate with an “eye for eye” mentality. 

Because all human life is sacred and should be protected out of reverence for God who made us in His image.