Killing tears the soul apart redux.

[houyhnhnm102]

No: HPFGUIDX 139518

Tammy Rizzo:

 
> Okay, page number and edition and all that.  
> American hard cover edition, chapter 23, 
> 'Horcruxes', page 498, fifth line from the 
> top of the page.  Slughorn is discussing horcruxes 
> with young Tom, in the true pensieve memory.

houyhnhnm:

I am aware of the statement by Slughorn, but Slughorn makes the
statement when he is discussing the creation of horcruxes, and he
first uses the word "murder". He then does use the word "killing", but
to reinforce the word "murder".  As Caius Marcius pointed out in post
# 139481, "murder" and "killing" are not necessarily synonymous in the
Judeo-Christian tradition (or in most others).

Lupin and Sirius are quite prepared to kill Pettigrew.  They do not
show much concern for either the legal or the spiritual ramifications
of such an act.  In GoF, we learn that Crouch authorized aurors to use
the killing curse during the first war. It would appear that the
distinction between killing and murder holds in the WW as well, at
least among the more conventionally minded.

I agree with you that Dumbledore would probably view the taking of
human life, under any circumstances, as damaging to the soul, along
with other kinds of bad acts, though none of this is explicitly
stated.  I also agree with you about healing and forgiveness.

I guess what I am really arguing against is the use of pat formulas to
interpret either plot or character in HP--what I would call the
fundamentalist approach.  I don't think there is any evidnce for such
a simplistic viewpoint in the books, just as the characters are not
black and white.