Murder is the killing, generally of another human being, in the erroneous belief that the murder’s life is more valuable than that of the other. It is done with total disregard and indifference; often brutally, and often premeditated. Murder sometimes happens “by accident” when the killer is overcome with a fit of rage. Occasionally, it occurs out of self-defense.
We are the apex predator on our planet because we are not preyed upon by other species. The truth is, most of the other apex predators are much bigger and stronger than we are. Because it is rare for them to attack humans, we like to believe that they are less intelligent than we are. Most wild species avoid humans. They, in fact, have just as much intelligence as we have. The biggest difference between us is that their hearts are not filled with hatred. They do not murder out of a sense of superiority. Very few of us kill for survival these days, but we come up with a multitude of reasons to justify our extermination of other species or other groups of humans.
Throughout human history, man has preyed on other species, including his fellow man. While cannibalism has occurred only rarely, our human lust for killing prevails. It dominates our lives in actuality, and also in our stories, our films, and our games. We have violent and competitive sports to fill our idle hours. We seem to be fascinated with death. We have a multitude of television programs about crime solving, crime documentaries, murder mysteries, and even horror. The popularity of long running shows like NCIS and Criminal Minds are evidence of our addiction to the macabre. War stories are ever popular, not to mention those who are obsessed with reenactments of war. We get first hand glimpses of ongoing wars, such as the war in Ukraine, on our nightly news channels.
We do not like to think of ourselves as the blood thirsty predators we are. We pride ourselves on our sensibilities and our civility. We believe ourselves to be domesticated and cultured. We are both repelled and fascinated by death. Our reluctance to admit or accept our own mortality is overlooked, when it comes to the mortality of other species. We are at odds between our desire for life – and our hunger for murder and revenge. Our murdering hearts crave peace; but until we purge society of its addiction to violence, we will never achieve it.
