So you're argument is that spells aren't real? Why would anyone believe in them then? At least enough to make big declarative statements like using spells to kill in the first place is morally wrong(which did happen in another thread). That kind of statement is starting to seem false and meaningless based on your logic.
Do not put words in my mouth.
Am I arguing that spells are not real? Far from it. I'm simply saying that there is no way at this point in time to quantify what they are and how they work. It's like the universe. If we add up all the matter and dark matter we can account for only a third of the matter/energy needed for the universe to act the way that it does. There is something in the missing 2/3 of the universe that we can not identify, can not quantify, don't know it's properties. The only thing we do know is that it is making the universe act like we can observe.
Rather like Magic. There is no "magic particle" no "magic radiation" that science can currently quantify. And without such, who is to say that a person who dies of no obvious wounds or illnesses or poisons, or other situations incompatible with life was or was not killed by magic.
"Why would anyone believe in them then?" Why would astrophysicists believe in Dark Energy? We can't see it, can't measure it, can't detect it. Because it's something that explains something that is going on in the universe. Why do many believe in magic? Simply because strange things have happened as a result of using magic. Magic in our limited understanding is the only thing that best explains what happened. It may be that Magic is just another function of a scientific universe that we haven't explained yet. That there is a component that any sufficiently willed entity can tap into.
"That kind of statement is starting to seem false and meaningless based on your logic." Only in the way that you twist
my logic to suit
your argument. Killing someone is not a thing to take lightly. It's one of the things that you are going to have to face the consequences of doing. Even if you are justified in a self-defense situation. You have to face the police questioning, maybe a court trial to ascertain if it really was a justified killing, and you have to live with the fact that you willingly ended the life of another. They're still consequences of those actions. And that's the whole thing about life. You are warned by many sources (the Rede, Golden Rule, Bible (and other religious texts), secular sources...you name it that you must be mindful of your actions and are willing to face the consequences of those actions for good or for ill.
And frankly I would never use magic to kill someone. It's all about power and how it can corrupt. I personally have never heard of a case where someone went "mumbly-mumbly-mumbly-POOF!" and made someone fall over stone dead. And I don't think it's possible. Others may disagree but *I* limit *my* beliefs to thinking that it is not possible. And the reason is that if it were possible and could be done in such a way to kill others so no one could ever trace it to me...
Well there are a lot of people I'm not sure I could resist using it on. That's the corruption. How long before I started using it to actually kill off those who have harmed me and my family. How long before I redefine that harm to include that jerk wad that cut me off on the way to work? How long before I start using it to off people who yelled at me for no good reason? How long before I started lashing out at anyone who annoyed me?
That's why it is not a good idea to use spells to harm someone. The power could eventually corrupt. The only reason that I don't go off on a rampage of harming others is that I really don't want to face the consequences of beating the snot of all the people who aggravate the living hell out of me.