The core ethical teachings of Christianity are found in the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes. These contain a summary of Christian ethics and stress the importance of human life. A life directed toward holiness is a key concept in the ethics of Christian life and Jesus' statements about ethical behavior are considered extremely important.
In the beginning of Christianity's long history, Christians would not justify killing anyone to achieve personal goals, and would not engage in Rome's military campaigns. This was changed when the theologian Augustine developed the theory of just violence; a theory that became deeply rooted in Christian theology. However, pacifism is still believed to be rightest under Christian doctrine to this day, and some practitioners do not believe that any violent act may be justified. These pacifists are willing to accept injustice if violence is the only way to achieve justice.
Another issue that has become increasingly controversial in modern times is the idea of abortion and embryo research. Abortion in particular carries strong opinions in the pro-life and pro-choice perspectives. Many pro-life believers will argue that in the Christian faith God's love for all, and the appreciation for human life makes abortion a sinful act that can be considered murder. Pro-choice advocates argue that God loves all, and that we should allow people the freedom to choice what to do with their bodies. The point in controversy is whether the ball of cells that will eventually turn into a baby and may be aborted may be considered alive or not. This is something that the church has stuck to with a strong belief that abortion is wrong and they should be able to consider it illegal. Catholicism is the most strict in this issue and is adamant in spreading support for pro-life. Interestingly enough, the new Pope stated that he finds the church to be too obsessed with political issues like abortion and that the church should reconsider its focus to more charitable passions.
http://www.ppl.org/index.php/publications/abortion-and-christian-faith/61-biblical-and-theological/64-a-firm-foundation-christian-theology-and-abortion
http://portal.waverley.nsw.edu.au/library/SOR/02_christianity/core_ethical_summary.html
http://moses.creighton.edu/csrs/news/S91-1.html
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