Why is it normally wrong to kill a person?

It is if you want to be an atheist and deny God. But the Bible clearly says "Thou shalt not kill." That's good enough for me.

There are several reasons but I think one that can be argued against even the most cynical of peoples is this;

It is socially irresponsible. If you kill someone that extinguishes their existence. If that person where some day going to contribute something to man kind, maybe a sort of technology, that would either improve or preserve our lives you would have eliminated that person. So in the interest of self preservation you would have shot yourself in the foot.

We humans are the most selfish of all species !
We make rules and often bend them when we don't find arguments working for us or situations don't work out for us .
We play safe trying to act morally but often do it loosely as to sin is basic human tendency of distinguishing it self from the group of commoner>

Killing someone is wrong because one uses them merely as a means to someone else's ends. People deserve to always be treated always as an end and never as a means to an end. (Kant)

Because it is evil, life is precious, and you have no right to rob him of it.

Maggie 3

I agree with you but if people decide to reject the value of life, arguing that death destroys everything, we cannot force them to change their view. But they are not entitled to impose it on everyone else and drag them down.

Schopenhauer believed it would have been better if life had never existed on this planet but he was inconsistent: he also believed that beauty can liberate us from our misery! The most logical thing he could have done would have been to commit suicide or let himself die painlessly

Of all living things on this planet , humans as far as we know have reasoning and consciences that we are alive. In turn we become aware that there are living beings like me and living things around us. We are aware we are alive. This in itself makes us a Stewart of life and of all livings things.

We have the means and power to respect or destroy that life and all living things on the planet. Because of being aware of that, it makes us a Steward of protecting a life/lives and living things around us, and in turn ourselves.

Our basic instinct of self preservation is hardwired

To take a life for the sake “because we can” demonstrates we don’t value life nor our life and cheapened the greatest gift as we should no it, being alive. Therefore it would be morally wrong to take a life from someone that wasn’t yours to take just because “you can” This is what separates us from the rest of the animal world.

Simply put. I tell my kids.” Remember, You hope the other persons life is just as important to them as your life is to you” Some day that may be achieved, and by doing so we now have all basic morals.

Another Basic moral is…. Do unto them as you would have them do unto you. Taking a life just to take it becomes morally wrong at the most basic level,

I realize this is an old post but some things keep on living

Human life starts with cry and should cross many cries and ends , it shouldnot be ended by killing

WELL...what rights do you have to take away someone's right to live? It's wrong to the victim, but maybe in the killers' minds, he/she has a different idea.

You can't steal, that's bad, so killing is basically stealing someone's life.

Why on earth not?