Bible says 'murder'

Dear Editor,

With regard to the death penalty, there seems to be some confusion with regard to whether the Biblical Commandment states "Thou shalt not murder" or "thou shalt not kill" (Kevin Dunn, Capital Punishment, 2/23/07.)

There is no doubt that the Commandment is thou shalt not murder. Depending upon differing interpretations, there are up to nearly 30 sins/crimes for which God instructs that men shall be put to death -- one of those sins/crimes is murder. Obviously God does not instruct man to violate God's commandments, therefore executing murderers can not be a violation of God's rules.

The biblical scholarship and theology on this is nearly unchallenged for millennia.

Dudley Sharp,

Justice Matters

Houston, Texas

EDITOR's NOTE -- Sharp has appeared on ABC, BBC, CBS, CNN, C-SPAN, FOX, NBC, NPR, PBS and many other TV and radio networks, on such programs as Nightline, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, The O'Reilly Factor, etc., has been quoted in newspapers throughout the world and is a published author. A former opponent of capital punishment, he has written and granted interviews about, testified on and debated the subject of the death penalty, extensively and internationally.