Presumption

There is a sense in which violence always involves idolatry. Follow the
blood of the innocents to the foot of the idols. For what and for whom
are human beings willing to kill? Even against the "guilty," violence
involves an idolatrous and preemptive exploit of the divine prerogative.
This is more than merely "God on our side." Whether it is in the death
penalty or war, the exercise of official violence generally presumes to
know or to execute (which is to say, usurp) the judgment of God who
alone holds the power of life and death.
--Bill Wylie-Kellerman as found in The Witness.