To the Nazis, killing Jews wasn't murder. Behind closed doors, yes, but still legal in those instances. Many German citizens turned in their Jewish neighbors and those who aided them, often with the knowledge of the likely consequences. Perhaps a German civilian wouldn't get away with flat out killing a Jewish man (though I'm not certain, I kinda doubt any officials would have stopped him), it was legal in the various prison camps and ghettos. If a Nazi soldier didn't like a particular Jew for no reason and shot him, no action would be taken against him.

Of course such were crimes against humanity. But they were legal, at least in certain circumstances. And if in its purest form murder means unlawful killing, then according to German law, the Jews were not murdered. Of course, to the most of the rest of the world, they were.

But this is why the abortion argument is such a difficult one: if we really wanted to get into the nitty gritty subjectivity of morals debate again, many consider abortion to be a crime against humanity too. There are valid arguments supporting that belief, even if many ultimately disagree. To them it could be argued that it is murder, even if it is legal.

This is from Wikipedia, detailing the essential ingredients to murder:<br />

1. Unlawful
2. killing
3. of a human
4. by another human
5. with malice aforethought

According to CP3S, abortion is not murder because of #1. While that is technically true, I find it unlawful according to a different set of laws. Just as it was legal to kill Jews in the Third Reich, the rest of the world didn't see it that way and viewed it as murder. In the U.S. abortion is legal. However, much of the world sees it as unlawful, whether it be according to God's law, or even the actual written laws of several countries (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_law ). Are we judging murder by the host country's laws, or by the laws of those who judge that country? Could the Irish or Chileans justifiably say that Americans are committing murder, just as we said of Germany? Just because we don't see it as a crime against humanity doesn't mean they are obliged to agree.

But I personally do not see abortion as murder, though my reasoning is based on #5. I do not believe most who abort their children are doing so with any intent to harm a living person. Nevertheless, I believe it to be utterly wrong in the vast majority of cases.

Out of interest, this article discussing the responsibility of the German people with regards to the Holocaust is an worthwhile read on the topic, presenting opinions for and against the responsibility of the German public.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Responsibility_for_the_Holocaust#The_German_people

(Sorry for posting the long links like this--trouble hyperlinking right now)