Christianity actually condones murder

[Astonished]

On its face, this is a ridiculous commandment since (A) Yahweh kills and orders to be killed untold numbers throughout the OT and (B) even leaving that aside, the entire sacrificial system is premised on a breathtaking amount of slaughter. Believers, of course, wave away all of that by appeal to divine command morality. If God does it or orders it, it is necessarily good no matter how arbitrary and evil it may appear (and who are you, clay pot, to question the designs of your maker?).

This universe and all in it belong to Him, He is supreme, greater than all his creation and has the right to do with it as He sees fit. Yes Christians are clay vessels, being molded by the great Potter. Those who are not Christians are being molded by a corrupt world. I'm not saying Christians are better than non-christians what I am saying is that we have been given a better and more perfect moral base, one we should practice daily not just when we find it convenient. There is no reason to question the One who creates us, we are the clay and He is the potter, but then it seems you have trouble digesting this way of living.

If the commandment is understood instead to be, "Thou shall not murder," then the commandment is pointless in a 'no shit, Sherlock' kind of way, since "murder" means unjustified/unlawful killing. But maybe the chosen people needed reminding of such a basic moral point. At least this commandment isn't directed at alleged thought crimes like so many others.

That's exactly what it means and think you know this. Seems the first born man did not have a grasp on this moral idea and if God had let the situation go then we would have a right to believe it so. However there was punishment and later a commandment written against murder, seems to me every state in this union has this written down. So are both reminders that we should not murder or a reminder if someone does there's a punishment. 
On thought crimes, Jesus was telling us that our thoughts were what we act upon and when we begin to think wrongly we will allow those thoughts to manifest into sin.

No, Christianity as such does not condone murder. But many Christians reveal much about their ethical bankruptcy when they stoop to explain and justify the atrocities in their holy book while telling the rest of us that we are unreasonable to question the 'goodness' or necessity of such bloodshed. I include the torture and execution of your savior in that observation.

Thanks for being honest about Christianity not condoning murder, some others here seem to think differently. To question God is not for us to do because we know He is perfect in all He says and does, I understand that non-believers do not understand why we Christians do not question God on these things.
The execution of Christ was planned before creation, He could have stopped it at any point, but He didn't, ever wonder why He the omniscent God allowed this thing to happen. Something to work over in one's mind even if one doesn't believe.

GC

Deuteronomy Chapter 13


6 If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which [is] as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;
7 [Namely], of the gods of the people which [are] round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the [one] end of the earth even unto the [other] end of the earth;
8 Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him:
9 But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.
10 ; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
11 And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you.


If you don't like telling the truth, just say so. It's all right. It's pretty easy to tell most of the time.