Macatangay, Chad R.

C3S

Assignment- Moral Agent

 The act of killing the priest inside the church during the mass is heavier act of killing than a person killed
by self-defense. Why?

 Describe the circumstances which decrease and increase the degree of the human action.

In my own perspective, the act of murdering the priest inside the church’s premises is a heavier act and

very brutal. Some factors have increased the degree of action. The brutal crime is committed inside the

church; and who would be thinking of such brutal crime will be committed inside a sacred place.

Another factor is the person got killed is a priest which is an ordained minister of the Catholic religion, a

disciple of God who shares the good news from the Bible, a man who prays for people, for the world.

Considering those factors, you can picture such a brutal, heartless man who killed a priest ruthlessly

without thinking of the degree of his actions, its impact to the environment, the thoughts that will came

in to the people’s minds when the news broadcasts it, and the trauma it will bring to the attendees of

the church. The other situation is a person killed by self-defense. Is it the lesser degree of action

compared to the killing of the priest inside the church? For me, Yes. It has the lesser degree in terms of

brutality. Let us analyze it in a scenario. You are being “holdap” at the footbridge late at night. You were

pointed by a knife and asked to give up your wallet, gadgets, and your watch. You were a bit nervous

and at the same time trying to be calm and think of a way on how you will maneuver your self-defense.

Upon your combat, you accidentally pushed the knife into the criminal’s chest causing a stab in the lung,

leading to the death of the criminal. I can say that the death of the criminal is only because of the self-

defense performed by the victim. Another example is in a mall robbery wherein a security guard was

forced to draw a gun and shoot against a criminal to defend the place he is in-charge. Even though he

murdered the criminal in the eyes of law he is clean and he did the right thing.