When Manslaughter Becomes Murder

When does manslaughter become second, and then first degree, murder?

Manslaughter: The crime of killing a human being without malice aforethought, or in circumstances not amounting to murder

Second degree murder: Intentional murder that lacks premeditation, is intended to only cause bodily harm, and demonstrates an extreme indifference to human life

First degree murder: An unlawful killing that is both willful and premeditated, meaning that it was committed after planning or "lying in wait" for the victim

Let's take a close look at the medical community, shall we? As self-appointed replacements for God Almighty, many have taken on the role of choosing for their vulnerable and trusting patients, whether or not they will make it out of the doctors office, emergency or operating room, or even, out of their homes to get the medical care they urgently need. Choosing between life and death for others may very well be one of the unspoken perks of having a God complex: if my tone seems caustic and perhaps even a little scathing, then you are reading my mood correctly, dear one. Since euthanizing and offering this "service" to those that may as well just go ahead and die already, is one of the menu items available to doctors and their assisting nurses to choose from, then it just makes sense that this be a chosen course of action for some, and perhaps many doctors. Dr. Monkey see, Dr. Monkey do.

I realize I have a sky big brush in my hands, and the message of indictment is being painted broadly, but dear reader, it is the medical community that rapidly took to killing patients and oddly, themselves too? 

The godly have been swept from the land; not one upright man remains. All men lie in wait to shed blood; each hunts his brother with a net. Both hands are skilled in doing evil; the ruler demands gifts, the judge accepts bribes, the powerful dictate what they desire -- they all conspire together (Micah 7:2-3)

When no isn't part of a professionals vocabulary, yes becomes a concomitant companion. Which brings me to the top of our page and the topic I am addressing: When does manslaughter become second, and then first degree, murder?

Manslaughter: In the case of doctors that made errors in judgment and caused death, they are responsible for death without malice. The hope is that sorrow would follow closely on the heels of such an event. I am not a lawyer, but this is basic information, and I am not defending, nor am I prosecuting, anyone. The justice system is in charge of determining the mind set and conscience of someone that has taken a life, or two, or 1 million ...

Second degree murder: Let's just say that the manslaughter-ing doctor now realizes that what he has previously done, causes death, or is likely to. He hasn't been to court to be told this, he has used observational skills: if I do this, then that happens. If said doctor continues to do this and then that, he is intentional about bodily harm that may result in death, making him a murderer of the second degree by displaying indifference for the lives of those in his care. In other words, the deaths he has caused have no significant meaning to him. He has regressed from no malice, to much callousness. He is now culpable for killing, knowing that his actions could, and often do, result in death ... taking him into the realm of first degree murder.

First Degree Murder: Let us be very plain without elaboration. Only the cold blooded plot and execute the plan of laying in wait for prey ... taking life, lives, millions and millions of lives, is damnable. Those that have contributed to the execution of said victims, without regret, remorse, or repentance, will face their Maker, God Almighty that commanded:

Thou shalt not kill (Exodus 20:13)

If you know your Bible, you know that God makes provision for manslaughter legally. God knows that death occurs by accident: without malice many a life has been taken, and a person may live in sorrow for a lifetime in such an event, if what they did or didn't do, caused the loss of life. But murder, dear one, is a completely different story. It is never acceptable, never condoned by God, and must not be by our justice system, or by any man, woman, or doctor. 

Capital punishment is putting someone to death for their crimes, and it is not murder, it is justice in action; the death penalty has remained as invokable in scripture. Wicked God and human hating men have infiltrated all levels of the justice system, wanting to kill with impunity. You and I, witnessing all of this, MUST shout them down, loudly, often, and into whatever sphere of influence we have. They are not to be let off the meat hook: they are to be held to account. 

There are doctors that have not only regretted the role they played in the killing of millions of humans, they have repented. They will live with the sorrow and knowledge that they broke their oath of Do no harm, and just like John Newton, the slave trader turned Christ follower and abolitionist, they will be saved by God's Amazing Grace. 

That is my hope, that is my prayer