If you could take someone's life and it have no consequences, would you?

1. 91

   Arghnessposted 10 years ago

   If you could take someone's life and it have no consequences, would you?
   
   Just one life, and there are no consequences.  That person just ceases to exist, and life goes on as per usual.  Would you?

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2. 68

   gail641posted 10 years ago

   No, I would never want to take the life of another, because it would still be murder. Life is a precious and I would never want to take it away from anybody. It would be evil to deny someone else life. It would be wrong to take the life of another always. It would cause guilt and remorse for having done such a harm. It would be immoral and unethical.

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   1. 67

      tsadjatkoposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Yeah, you are right but the stupid question says "with no consequences. Everything you mention are consequences.  Guilt, remorse, judgement ethics or good vrs evil are consequences of the action and would not exist - it is a stupid question." -

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3. 87

   Doc Snowposted 10 years ago

   How could taking someone's life 'have no consequences?'
   
   Lives are not lived in vacuums; even a very unsocial person affects others every day, just by being.  Extinguish that person and the ripples spread in the most unexpected ways.  Moreover, there is a very real sense in which to kill a person is to kill a whole universe--the unique universe perceived only by that person.  Dismiss the importance of that universe, and I think you are dismissing any claim you might make to being a writer, since the essence of writing is to affect other's subjective universes by touching them with the contents of our own.
   
   So you see that I reject the possibility assumed in the question.  But perhaps you simply meant, by 'have no consequences,'  'getting away with it.'
   
   In that case, the answer is much shorter:  no.

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   1. 71

      Born2care2001posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Great Answer Doc Snow!

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4. 44

   DDEposted 10 years ago

   I won't take another life no matter what, it is one of the most difficult things to do to another, not only would it be murder living with the guilt for the rest of my life would  ruin me.

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5. 57

   Alberic Oposted 10 years ago

   No. The ONLY time I will take a person's life is if that person is an imminent threat and is trying to kill me or my family (ie, self defense). I don't believe in taking a life casually.
   
   There are always consequences even if you live in a lawless environment. That person that you kill has family, friends, and/or associates. So if you just kill a person, you will have to watch your back because the victims family, friends and/or associates will try to either kill you or your loved ones.

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6. 59

   MickSposted 10 years ago

   Why behave in such an immoral way?----------

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7. 71

   Born2care2001posted 10 years ago

   I wanted to leave this answer by itself because it says it all for me but HUbpages would not allow it's brevity! So subtract everything before this answer as my respect for life, period.
   No!
   Peace be with you!
   
   Above was my original answer. A few moments after I reviewed my answer I thought this:
   Perhaps I have not participated in taking a life directly and still, never would. But, have I unknowingly supported or condoned the erasure of the most precious of all gifts by acquiescing or abdicating my rights to governments, businesses or people whose desires preserve their own interests? Have I unwittingly caused the heartache of losing someone close to another human being, regardless of race ,creed, sex or national origin or otherwise through no fault of their own because I supported a faulty ideology? What about the life of an animal or other living creature. There certainly more to this question than meets the eye.

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   1. 74

      LauraD093posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I really loved your response...ditto.

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8. 87

   LauraGTposted 10 years ago

   What's disturbing about your question is that there are so many people out there for whom the answer would be yes. Just look at the rates of violence in our country. 
   
   There's an old saying (I believe from the Talmud): When you save a life, you save a world.  The opposite is true too: when you destroy a life, you destroy a world.  Although i would amend that to: when you destroy a life, you destroy many worlds.
   
   I do not believe there is any circumstance in which taking someone else's life is justified. Even in self-defense or to save the life of someone else, I believe every effort should be made not to end someone else's existence.

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   1. 67

      tsadjatkoposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      'I do not believe there is any circumstance in which taking someone else's life is justified.' Actually I agree, but if everyone believed as we, Evil and tyrants would be ruling thewhole world not just part, but I'd be in heaven with an eternal life!

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9. 68

   X-Conposted 10 years ago

   There's always consequences. And evern if there wasn't, I wouldn't. I don't feel I have a right to. I'm not the creator of life; so I don't think I have the authority to be the exctinguisher of it.

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10. 93

    peeplesposted 10 years ago

    Wow, ok as usual I will give the opposite answer as everyone else. YES! An overwhelming yes! There are people in this world who do not deserve the air they breathe! Yesterday I read a story about a woman who put her infant in a plastic bag and threw her by the side of the road to die (infant froze to death). Later in the investigation they found 2 more children in bags in her trunk, all her children dead. This woman has been found sane. The justice system dropped many of her charges and she will not be facing the death penalty in exchange for admitting her wrongs. In my opinion people like this should be killed. If I personally could do it I don't feel I'd bat an eye. Simply wastes of space.
    With that said, who am I to decide who should die and who shouldn't? I can't answer that. Will I go out and become the new Dexter? No. Can I say I have never thought about it? No.

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    1. 67

       tsadjatkoposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Kudos for giving an honest answer. In order to answer this question you really have to pretend to be God and if you were God it sounds like you would punish sin with death....funny so would God.

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    2. 71

       Born2care2001posted 10 years agoin reply to this

       A very honest answer!

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11. 0

    minababeposted 10 years ago

    Of course not. Even if I could technically "get away with murder" (no arrests, etc), there would always be the paranoia and terror of someone finding out. In other words, there would always be the ever-present feeling of guilt. I could never live with that kind of thing on my conscience.

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12. 0

    JThomp42posted 10 years ago

    Very disturbing question. No matter who knows or doesn't know, God knows everything.

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    1. 67

       tsadjatkoposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Ah, but to entertain the tenants of the question requires there has to be no God, or there would be consequences - nonsense isn't it?

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13. 79

    flacoinohioposted 10 years ago

    There is always a consequence to taking someone's life.  For those with a conscience they may relive that moment for the rest of their lives which is very damaging to a person.  For those that are psychopaths there is the fear of getting caught and quite possibly the need to kill others to relive their first killing experience.    My answer is no.

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14. 67

    tsadjatkoposted 10 years ago

    What sense is there to even asking a question like this? - in the realm of reality it's impossible (unless maybe you consider that if you are an atheist killing yourself doesn't have any cosequences at least to yourself except that you are dead) so you have to imagine a make believe world (la la land) for this to occur without any consequences. It's no different than an atheist believing the fantasy that when he dies there is is nothing left, no afterlife, no judgement, no consequences, it is as if he never lived. This question, just like atheism is nothing but an exercise in futility that should be left in la la land.

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    1. 54

       graceinusposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       None

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15. 54

    graceinusposted 10 years ago

    What kind of a sick minded question is this?

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16. 91

    Greensleeves Hubsposted 10 years ago

    The basic answer in all normal circumstances has to be 'no'. I'm sure some who say 'no' would nonetheless feel tempted in their private thoughts, particularly in the case of brutal dictators, serial killers, and people who pose a personal threat  etc. But the correct answer has to be 'no, of course not. It's immoral'.
    
    To give the benefit of the doubt to the motivation behind the question, there are two circumstances where one might possibly say 'yes':
    
    1) The age old hypothetical philosophical question of whether a theoretical time-traveller who went back and ended the life of Adolf Hitler before he'd actually commited a crime against humanity, would be acting reasonably. In that circumstance I would still definitely say 'no'. Quite apart from the immorality of killing someone who (at that time) had done nothing wrong, the consequences for altering subsequent history would be too great.
    
    2) Euthanasia. I can agree with euthanasia having personal experience of the suffering which some people go through and their own desire for their life to end. So in that case I may well say 'yes' on compassionate grounds, though it would depend on the exact nature of the person's suffering, their future suffering while they live, and the genuineness of their desire to see their lives end.

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17. 82

    Wayne Brownposted 10 years ago

    Absolutely not...what would be the value or the point.  What of our own conscience to think that we have that power over another individual at our will and that we also possess such right...law or no law.  Murder is an irrational act carried out either as a result of mental dysfunction of one form or other.  Rational and well-armed people, do not go around with the desire to kill anyone. ~WB

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18. 47

    Ericdierkerposted 10 years ago

    Your question shows it cannot occur. If you take there are consequences. It cannot be otherwise. A life is just an example, picking fruit, getting paid, taking a vacation are all one in the same. All manner of taking has consequences.
    
    So I assume you mean, "consequences to me". The only way that could happen is if I had no soul. So the answer must be absolutely no, perhaps even more so because of no consequences.

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19. 44

    padmendraposted 10 years ago

    Its a devil's action and not a  human act.  We can not harm or take life of anyone the way we want. Even if no consequences would be there, its not  an ordinary matter to  think for.

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20. 76

    d.williamposted 10 years ago

    This is a rather odd question and somewhat disturbing to anyone with a conscience.
    The only people who would answer a resounding  'yes'  to this question is either a psychopath or a sociopath with not conscience at all and as we all know they do exist in this world.
    Should someone have their life taken from them? That is a matter of conjecture and great philosophical dilemma.   It is true that monsters do walk among us, but do  our earthly laws take precedent over everything else.  Is it ever "right" or "just" to take a life for a life, or any other reason?  Self defense being the exception.
    Sometimes, murdering a murder is too easy a way out for them.  Isolation and solitary confinement is far more punishing than letting them off easy by granting them death.
    I also think we all, at one point in our lives, felt it would be a much better world without one particular person in it, but there is no such thing as doing the deed and going on with life as if nothing ever happened, at least for those with a conscience.

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21. 82

    Diana Leeposted 10 years ago

    Unless this person and the event in question was erased completely from your memory bank there would always be consequences. Guilt would rule your life and we all have our own fill of guilt at one point or another. No, I could not take a chance like this one. Of course, I never could be a hunter either as I value life too much for both animal and human.

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22. 0

    Vickiwposted 10 years ago

    If you mean could you get away with it, the answer is NO. it would not benefit society at all, if people just ran around offing anyone they didn't like. It would be anarchy, and who needs that?
    This is quite a strange question, because it doesn't take into account that there are always effects when someone dies. Life does not "go on as usual" for family members, for instance. Usually someone who dies is beloved by at least one person. You even see how families of someone who is executed suffer, and that person might have been totally repulsive to everyone else.
    So no, I would not take someone's life, and this is quite a creepy question.

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23. 87

    izettlposted 10 years ago

    Not when you've been through what it takes to GIVE life...two children. It's a miracle and its a difficult process. Also I'm not overly religious, but taking a life isn't my decision. I'd like to leave that up to God. Only if it threatens myself or my family's lives, would I consider taking a life. Basically if there was no other choice.

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24. 84

    AlexK2009posted 10 years ago

    There are always consequences and it would affect you.  Short answer: it is impossible for this situation to happen.
    
    It would need to have very strong beneficial consequences for me to kill someone. Apart from all else it is a waste of potential.

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25. 0

    healthylife2posted 10 years ago

    Never! That reminds me of my question I asked. ".If taking the life of an innocent child would end all evil in the world would you do it?" In that question there would be no consequences and I still would not do it but the majority of the lawyers I asked said yes. Even if it would end all evil forever everyone on HP said no so they probably will say no to this one. I'm curious and will check out the responses.

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26. 77

    shampa sadhyaposted 10 years ago

    Even if the Creator gives me the authority to kill a person then too I won't do so. But, I  would like to point out that sometimes the need of the hour takes an upper hand and the ideology of life fails especially when there is a need to defend a right person. .

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27. 63

    CrescentSkiesposted 10 years ago

    Yes. There are about a dozen people I'd have to choose from though.

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28. 91

    Arghnessposted 10 years ago

    I believe that i would.  I would take the life of the man I felt had caused the most impact on myself.  It's a selfish thing, to deny another person life.  I thought of answering this as "I would take the life of someone who is pure evil, such as a terrorist" but in the question I stated that there were no consequences, which means that simply removing that person would not have any positive or negative effect.  And in fact, I would cease to remember their existence as well.  Even so, I would do so.  I would rid myself of a person that I believe should not exist in the first place.  A person who has caused pain for so many people, and have caused so much pain for myself.  I believe this person has nothing good to offer this world, and should not be allowed to live.  Who am I to decide such a thing?  I am a simple mortal, with no control over this universe.  Give a mortal the ability to control, and that power will be abused.  That is the truth in all cases, I believe.  Precious few people, if given wings, would not fly.  People if given the option of making a person disappear forever, would turn away and never think of it again.  I believe that deep down, we all have darkness, flaws that we suppress but can only be unleashed given certain circumstances.  In wars, all around the world, soldiers of all nations are taking lives of other people.  They hate it, and some of them never imagined themselves in that position.  They're in a position of power, and of danger, yet they're there, in that scenario, and that have to choose how to act.  They have taken human lives.  They have played "god" and for something's sake.  Religion, Nationality, Patriotism, Freedom, you name it.  I simply proposed something far less extensive than war.  A personal thing.  And the resounding answer is no, yet the answer to war and sending soldiers into war is yes?  Are our beliefs so strong in that our nation, or our virtue is so strong that taking lives that way is acceptable?  Necessary, even?  My proposal was one that had no consequences.  It is an impossible hypothetical for a reason.  Because every lost life has resounding consequences to everyone who loved that person, to everyone who hated that person, and to the world as a whole.  Every lost life shakes this planet with emotion.  Sadness, hatred, guilt, shame, envy, dissonance, ambivalence, you name it.  There you have it.  My answer.

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29. 60

    Troy C.posted 9 years ago

    Wow, the Lord giveth and he takeh away. I am not God and that is that.

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