Is this is a sin...?

[HopeBforJC]

Just a quick question:

If two families are on an island, that has 1 fruit tree (The only sourse of food), that can only support one family (if they try to share it between 2, people WILL starve), is it a sin to try to kill members of the other family so your can survive?

Say your the head of one family, what should you do (With respect to what God would want you to do)?

*stole the question from yasic, a non christian...but the question still comes from me*

 

[dayhiker]

What would I do. Why I'd volenteer to die that they might live. Unless they didn't eat the food fast enough!

 

[Brucea]

My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory.

I've never seen the righteous forsaken or their seed begging for bread.

Take no thought of what you might drink or eat, or what you might wear. Your heavenly Father knows you have need of these things.

 

[davedjy]

My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory.

I've never seen the righteous forsaken or their seed begging for bread.

Take no thought of what you might drink or eat, or what you might wear. Your heavenly Father knows you have need of these things.

 

[HopeBforJC]

That totally ignored the question....it's a what if question. If a person was in that situation, is it a sin or not?

 

[Tractor1]

is it a sin

Of course!

In Christ,
Tracey

 

[HopeBforJC]

Of course!

In Christ,
Tracey

Thank you!

Why? I mean, I know killing is a sin. But..shouldn't a person have the right to survive?

Not trying to start a debate or anything, im seriously curious.

 

[Nadiine]

My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory.

I've never seen the righteous forsaken or their seed begging for bread.

Take no thought of what you might drink or eat, or what you might wear. Your heavenly Father knows you have need of these things.

I was going to say something close to this, like YOU NEED TO SERIOUSLY PRAY.

But, that's an escape to the OP. The question is asking if you WERE in that situation.

I'll dodge it too lol. I dunno what I'd do.
I mean - it IS survival. You're killing SOMEONE no matter what choice you make, right? So - it boils down to [your] sacrifice or [your] survival.

Doesn't God say choose LIFE? lol

It would be horrific either way. Reminds me of that movie of the airplane that crashes into the mountains & they have to eat the dead passengers to survive till they were found.

 

[homewardbound]

Just a quick question:

If two families are on an island, that has 1 fruit tree (The only sourse of food), that can only support one family (if they try to share it between 2, people WILL starve), is it a sin to try to kill members of the other family so your can survive?

Say your the head of one family, what should you do (With respect to what God would want you to do)?

*stole the question from yasic, a non christian...but the question still comes from me*

Is it a sin? Of course it is...murder is a sin. Attempted murder is a sin. Not trusting God to provide for you is a sin.

What would I do? I would lead my family in prayer.

 

[HopeBforJC]

Is it a sin? Of course it is...murder is a sin. Attempted murder is a sin. Not trusting God to provide for you is a sin.

What would I do? I would lead my family in prayer.

What if the food God provided was that tree. I mean, I don't know. It just doesn't seem like a person would have to be held accountable for something like that.

I'll tell you this, if I were in a situation where I knew the only way for me and my family to survive was to eat the other family...I'd definitely be killing some folks. Sure, prayer is fine. But when I'm literally starving to death and God still hasn't provided me any other source of food. I'm going to be eating some folks. (sounds nasty when i say it..)

 

[seekthetruth909]

Just a quick question:

If two families are on an island, that has 1 fruit tree (The only sourse of food), that can only support one family (if they try to share it between 2, people WILL starve), is it a sin to try to kill members of the other family so your can survive?

Say your the head of one family, what should you do (With respect to what God would want you to do)?

*stole the question from yasic, a non christian...but the question still comes from me*

Of course it would be sin. A very bad sin! Even from a secular viewpoint, if you were ever rescued you would probably be tried and convicted of murder. From a Christian viewpoint we are commanded by Christ to love our neighbor, in this case the other family. If we loved them as much as our own family, how could we kill them for survival? The New Testament also says to put others above ourselves.


There is also the question of faith. If you choose to sacrifice yourself for others and die, what will be your reward and where will you end up after you die?

A better solution would be for both families to give all the food to the children in order for them to survive. [If they were old enough to take care of themselves]

Seek

Philippians 2:3
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.


I John 3:16-18, "We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has the world's goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little chidren, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth."

Matthew 5:46
If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?

Galatians 5:14
The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."

Matt 25:44 "Then they also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see thee hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to thee?' 45 Then he will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.' 46 And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

 

[seekthetruth909]

What if the food God provided was that tree. I mean, I don't know. It just doesn't seem like a person would have to be held accountable for something like that.

I'll tell you this, if I were in a situation where I knew the only way for me and my family to survive was to eat the other family...I'd definitely be killing some folks. Sure, prayer is fine. But when I'm literally starving to death and God still hasn't provided me any other source of food. I'm going to be eating some folks. (sounds nasty when i say it..)

Would you risk your soul and eternity for a few more years of mortal life?

Seek

James 12
What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

Psalm 39
5 You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man's life is but a breath.

 

[Rion]

The eldest family members should abstain from the tree, and both families should gather themselves in prayer. That way, you put faith God will provide for you, and you both allow your children to survive, thus removing any "justification" for murder.

 

[Nadiine]

What if the food God provided was that tree. I mean, I don't know. It just doesn't seem like a person would have to be held accountable for something like that.

I'll tell you this, if I were in a situation where I knew the only way for me and my family to survive was to eat the other family...I'd definitely be killing some folks. Sure, prayer is fine. But when I'm literally starving to death and God still hasn't provided me any other source of food. I'm going to be eating some folks. (sounds nasty when i say it..)

What's the point of cannibalizing people when you're just going to lose your cookies anyways out of being morbided out?

(that was actually a judgment God sent on Israel - the people ended up eating their children).

Ok, this is a lovely topic.

 

[lmnop9876]

OK, firstly, having never been in such a situation, i can only provide a hypothetical answer based on knowledge, not an answer based on wisdom, experience, or understanding.

secondly, i do not believe such a situation would ever happen in reality to me or any other living human being. given that we are on an island, numerous food sources would be found (provided you had the ability to locate and capture them), such as crabs, fish, birds, &c. &c.

thirdly, i think that if such a situation happened, it would only happen out of the love of God for us, and therefore whatever we do it must also be done out of love towards God and our neighbour.

fourthly, not enough information is given to really understand this situation. presumably this tree & its fruit is also the only water source for these people? how long would it take to grow another tree that would be edible from the seeds of these plants? how long could both families survive with both eating this fruit? i know you said both would starve if they tried to eat the fruit, but in reality this would not be the case. in addition, how long could one family survive with only them eating this fruit? presumably it contains all the necessary nutritional value as well as a substantial enough quantity of fruit to keep them all alive for a substantial period of time? if not, what would be the point of removing any competition for the food? how did we get on this island? what means of communication are available with the outside world?


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

to the point however, hypothetically speaking, if i were in a situation where 1. eating the food and having it for my family would cause the other family to starve to death, 2. allowing the other family to eat it would starve my family to death, 3. none of us eating it and all of us starving to death, or 4. fighting to the death for the tree... would all result in one and the same result: the death of innocent people,

(i am going to make 2 assumptions here: the food supply will stretch to feed a single family, no matter how large that family becomes; and 2. the island has no established government.)

i believe the solution is quite simple.

we would first hold a democratic election and elect the head of the opposite household as president of the island, with emergency powers over the legislature, executive, military, and judiciary functions of that nation.

secondly, i would give up all my children for adoption by the other family (given that the food supply stretches, they are guaranteed to have enough food).

thirdly, i would have the now-president & sole magistrate of this nation agree to a divorce between me & my wife (i consider this the lesser of 2 evils in this case), making us both now legally single

finally, i'd have the other family adopt me & my wife as their children as well.

dilemma solved.

 

[Ino]

OK, firstly, having never been in such a situation, i can only provide a hypothetical answer based on knowledge, not an answer based on wisdom, experience, or understanding.

secondly, i do not believe such a situation would ever happen in reality to me or any other living human being. given that we are on an island, numerous food sources would be found (provided you had the ability to locate and capture them), such as crabs, fish, birds, &c. &c.

thirdly, i think that if such a situation happened, it would only happen out of the love of God for us, and therefore whatever we do it must also be done out of love towards God and our neighbour.

fourthly, not enough information is given to really understand this situation. presumably this tree & its fruit is also the only water source for these people? how long would it take to grow another tree that would be edible from the seeds of these plants? how long could both families survive with both eating this fruit? i know you said both would starve if they tried to eat the fruit, but in reality this would not be the case. in addition, how long could one family survive with only them eating this fruit? presumably it contains all the necessary nutritional value as well as a substantial enough quantity of fruit to keep them all alive for a substantial period of time? if not, what would be the point of removing any competition for the food? how did we get on this island? what means of communication are available with the outside world?


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

to the point however, hypothetically speaking, if i were in a situation where 1. eating the food and having it for my family would cause the other family to starve to death, 2. allowing the other family to eat it would starve my family to death, 3. none of us eating it and all of us starving to death, or 4. fighting to the death for the tree... would all result in one and the same result: the death of innocent people,

(i am going to make 2 assumptions here: the food supply will stretch to feed a single family, no matter how large that family becomes; and 2. the island has no established government.)

i believe the solution is quite simple.

we would first hold a democratic election and elect the head of the opposite household as president of the island, with emergency powers over the legislature, executive, military, and judiciary functions of that nation.

secondly, i would give up all my children for adoption by the other family (given that the food supply stretches, they are guaranteed to have enough food).

thirdly, i would have the now-president & sole magistrate of this nation agree to a divorce between me & my wife (i consider this the lesser of 2 evils in this case), making us both now legally single

finally, i'd have the other family adopt me & my wife as their children as well.

dilemma solved.

LOL!
Your answer reminds me of Gareth Keenan from The Office (BBC version).

Great answer though.
If I was in that situation I would make sure all the kids get food and the adults can pray to God. If the kids are too young to look after themselves, one adult should be elected to eat, so he/she can stay around looking after the kids.
I have no trouble with starving to death, I would be more troubled about water supplies.
And yes, I believe murdering the other family is a sin. Even in this situation.

 

[whatfor]

I would pray for God to provide and also for rescue.
If someone died then eat them if nessesary, how would you know you weren't going to be rescued the next day.
Share the food and pray God will provide, and have faith.
If you didn't survive it would be what God had planned for you.
Remember also only your body is dead, you will still be alive with Him.

 

[TySJI]

Just a quick question:

If two families are on an island, that has 1 fruit tree (The only sourse of food), that can only support one family (if they try to share it between 2, people WILL starve), is it a sin to try to kill members of the other family so your can survive?

Say your the head of one family, what should you do (With respect to what God would want you to do)?

*stole the question from yasic, a non christian...but the question still comes from me*

Give the kids the food. Then wait for someone to starve and eat them.

No murder. Kids stay alive.

Oh and pray. Don't know if you should give thanks before a canabalistic meal though

 

[outhwaar]

It would certainly be a sin. It is a well established idea in moral theology that it is unlawful to do something intrinsically evil (such as killing an innocent) in order that good may result.

Having said that, if I was actually in that situation, I cannot say with certainty that I would not go ahead and kill to protect my family. Lord have mercy.

I think this is what Jesus meant when He told us not to judge. We have an obligation to judge which actions are sinful, but we cannot judge those who commit those sinful actions, because we can never be sure that we would not do the same in their situation. God will do the judging.

 

[UberLutheran]

Just a quick question:

If two families are on an island, that has 1 fruit tree (The only sourse of food), that can only support one family (if they try to share it between 2, people WILL starve), is it a sin to try to kill members of the other family so your can survive?

Say your the head of one family, what should you do (With respect to what God would want you to do)?

*stole the question from yasic, a non christian...but the question still comes from me*

Seriously?

The tree may have fruit, but it can't bear fruit every single day and it certainly won't bear enough fruit to keep even one family living indefinitely. Both families would eventually starve.

I'd pick what fruit was ripe and share that with everyone; see if any fruit was going to ripen and leave enough tree to let that fruit ripen as needed -- and then I'd take some of the branches of the tree and make poles, and some of the leaves and make primitive thread, and use that to catch fish.

I'd make a fire with some of the dead branches and use that to cook the fish; use the branches and the leaves to make a primitive distillery and try to distill enough salt water into fresh water so everybody might have enough fresh water to drink.

In short: I'd make as many uses of that tree as I possibly could! The sin is not trying to do whatever is possible to save the greatest number of people!