Do not kill. — Exodus 20:13, Common English Bible 

IN DECEMBER in New York City, a man named Luigi Mangione shot and killed Brian Thompson, the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare. Mangione had grievances about United’s insurance failing to cover the medical care he and his mother needed. 

As Anabaptists, we are against killing any human being. Our forebears were willing to die rather than take up weapons against others. Many chose alternative service instead of being a part of the armed forces. When alternative service was not an option, some refused to cooperate with the military and suffered persecution, even death. 

Does scripture prohibit ever causing the death of another person?

According to the King James Version, the Sixth Commandment says, “Thou shalt not kill” (Exodus 20:13). 

The Hebrew word in Exodus 20:13 is ratzah. The direct translation is “murder.” The Common English Bible — which many Anabaptists are reading now for the first time in the new Anabaptist Community Bible — uses “kill” and adds a footnote: “or murder.” 

The original Revised Standard Version has “kill.” The NRSV has “murder,” as does the New International.

People from different faith traditions make different ethical judgments about what constitutes murder. Many Catholics and evangelicals would say killing in a just war is not murder, but abortion is. 

Anabaptist pacifists don’t base our rejection of killing only on Exodus 20:13. We take Matthew 5:44 to heart, which from the Greek is roughly translated as, “I say to you, love the hated, the hostile, the enemy, and pray on behalf of those who pursue/persecute you.” This deters taking any human life, even an enemy. 

Mangione is charged with murder. Prosecutors called it an act of terrorism. Yet, some on social media expressed support for Mangione’s actions, due to an unjust healthcare insurance system in the United States, along with corporate greed. 

Also in December, there was yet another U.S. school shooting, this time at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wis. A teacher, a student and the shooter died. Many people once again called for better gun control. Others offered their thoughts and prayers. 

In the days after the school shooting, my news feed still reported the killing of Brian Thompson as the first headline, while the school shooting was listed three articles down. 

All people involved in these horrific incidents are beloved children of God. 

I can’t help but wonder if laws were in place to keep corporations from causing pain and destitution, Thompson might not have been murdered. If there was justice for those who harm others by taking excessive profits and abusing power, would Mangione still have felt the need for vigilante “justice”? If insurance companies were more regulated, might Mangione and his mother have experienced less pain and debt? 

Some acts of violence command media attention for days, while others fade quickly: just another deadly day at an American school. Mangione likely will go to prison, but what consequences will the owner of the gun used in the Wisconsin shooting face for letting a deadly weapon fall into the hands of a 15-year-old? Will stricter gun laws be passed? Not likely. 

I also notice the disparity in the ­public discourse of a call for action against the man who killed a CEO versus the well-wishes sent to the grieving families of a school shooting. With one, we act; to the other, we offer condolences. 

Are we defining violence too narrowly? Isn’t a corporation that enriches itself off the blood, sweat, tears and death of millions of Americans as violent as a shooter in the street? Doesn’t the gunning down of a student and a teacher deserve as much outrage as the death of a CEO? Some lives are valued more than others. 

I wish neither of these horrific incidents had happened. It is also clear to me that allowing or justifying violence in some spheres, for certain corporations and people but not others, is abhorrent. 

I wish that everyone who expects action as a result of Mangione’s violence would also want to make schools safer by enacting stricter gun laws. But this is where I see a divide in America. 

I believe tragedies like these call for Anabaptists to stand with the marginalized and against the death of anyone, as scripture commands.