[NyteSky]

Great topic! Many fascinating posts already. Fortunately I've never been in a situation requiring me to make that choice. But from what I know about myself, I would have little trouble killing someone in self defence though I would try to avoid it. I would worry less about killing them if it was a friend or family member threatened though. I believe in mercy, but not at the expense of others. Justice too must play a part. It's difficult to balance the two. There's no such thing as a 100% evil person and, like someone in here already said, we never know other people's reasons. But all actions have consequences and evil is evil. A murderer is not evil and should be given chances to see the error of his ways but he should not be set free either. People have to be responsible for their actions. I have to disagree with Naaramare on that, even extreme fear or other emotions can't justify some things.
One thing that everyone seems to agree on is Frodo. His inner light letting him see the good in even Gollum. Well, debating's more fun than agreeing so: what if Frodo had mercy on Gollum because he saw some of himself in Gollum! Seeing Gollum was like being shown what he could've become. Frodo saw this and so showing mercy to Gollum was the same as showing it to himself, in a way.
In many, many books and movies the bad guy accuses the good guy of being weak because he/she continually shows mercy (which usually ends up helping them a lot). I saw a really good quote about that a while ago. It was something like, Only the strong can afford to be merciful. I'm sure I messed that up some, but you get the idea. Anyone know who said it?
Well I've written at least enough for one night. I hope this topic continues for a while, it's the most interesting I've seen in a while.