"Some killing is justifiable or excusable, as in self-defense, but always woeful."

I totally agree.  And this was my ultimate point.  

I find war abhorrent.  I have children, and cannot imagine what a loss it must be to lose them even in a just war.  

What astounds me is that although the main point I tried to make is that killing can sometimes be justified and moral, as in self-defense---a point with which you agree---you'd think from the antagonism I've been shown that I was calling for a preemptive strike on the Franciscans. Even you, who agree with me on my main point, wax sarcastic in saying that "Jesus as we find him in the gospels has no interest whatsoever in the violent situations that so plainly fascinate you."  The situations that "so fascinate me" concern the moral rightness or wrongness of going to war.  That may seem a weird "fascination" to you, but to a rational parent, a rational citizen, or a rational Christian, it's a matter of genuine, valid concern.