[The_Reader_David]

Murder is defined state-by-state, as are all other crimes which embody points of morality from the Decalogue, as are marriage and divorce. Does it violate the 14th Amendment if an incident is defined to be justifiable homicide in one state without a duty to retreat law, but would be 2nd degree murder in another where the definition of self-defense includes a duty to retreat?

We don’t have a Christian Emperor anymore. We have a Constitutional republic, which, in the face of confessional disunity, left moral matters close to the people, with the several states.

[wideawake]

Does it violate the 14th Amendment if an incident is defined to be justifiable homicide in one state without a duty to retreat law, but would be 2nd degree murder in another where the definition of self-defense includes a duty to retreat?

It does if any party is denied the due process of law.

We don’t have a Christian Emperor anymore. We have a Constitutional republic, which, in the face of confessional disunity, left moral matters close to the people, with the several states.

(1) It isn't a matter of Christian doctrine. It is obvious from empirically observed phenomenon that life begins at conception. It is equally obvious that any attempt to separate human life from human personhood according to empirical criteria collapses into incoherence.

(2) The federal government does not leave slavery "close to the people."

(3) The most basic function of any government, Christian or secular, is to defend the lives of the people whom it claims to govern.