What part of "Thou Shalt Not Kill" do you not understand?

Jerry Falwell, the man who claimed Tinky Winky would lead to the ruination of America because the purple teletubbie with the triangular antenna was obviously a gay subversive, has hit another low... Recently I watched him on one of the major TV news shows where he stated, quite viciously, that we needed to hunt down and kill every last terrorist we could. As I watched, I couldn't help but question whether we were living in the times of the Old Testament again. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth just doesn't seem to work all that well in a complex modern world of many shades of gray. Ironic, too, that a born again Christian would so gleefully advocate killing.

Don't get me wrong--I'm not saying that terrorists are beneficial, but Mr. Falwell was so eager to endorse the killing of other human beings with different world views that I was taken aback. I shouldn't have been surprised, I mean he responded with the typical neocon hypocrisy. So many of these zealots end up contradicting the messages of Christ, with whom they supposedly have a direct phone or prayer line.

I'm not sure what the answer is to terrorism. Maybe helping to build opportunity for people in the third world? Maybe not killing lots of Iraqis? Maybe education to help the people escape from the extremes of Islamic fundamentalism? Maybe a dose of education for ourselves to promote tolerance of different belief systems? I don't have the answers, but it seems like there should be some other way than simply wiping people off the face of the earth... Anyway, I'm getting off topic.

I guess I was just struck by the blatant hypocrisy. I don't think I can ever recall Jesus saying "kill thine enemy. Smite him with vengeance." I always thought Jesus' message was "love thy neighbor as yourself." I would've thought such a devout (dare I say holier than thou) Christian as Mr. Falwell would know that.