The difference between killing and murder

‘Thou shalt not kill’

What does this commandment  really mean?

There is a difference between killing someone who is trying to kill you, vs. taking the life of someone who does not have the power to harm you. The first is killing. The second is murder.

In the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, where the enemy is elusive and rarely seen, murder occurs far more often than killing. Families are massacred in airstrikes. Children are gunned down after an improvised explosive device goes off near a convoy. Artillery shells obliterate homes.

Happy 4th of July.