05-28-24

I wholeheartedly agree with the assessment that violence is a faith of dominance and growing. What I don’t concede is that Jesus meant for good people to turn the other cheek or turn a blind eye from this level of evil. – To stand idle while your neighbor is being unjustly beaten is to wield the club yourself.

I do agree that there are war hawks among us, some of which are our politicians from both parties who are willing to send our men and women into battle at the flip of a coin.

Of course there are various kinds and levels of violence. We sadly have become a society that is witness to so much brutality that acts of battery and muggings are just everyday occurrences. In many cases of assault these are people who were never taught proper conflict resolution.

Higher up the scale of depravity we have the heart-wrenching acts such as school shootings and other mass murders. It is here that I believe Jesus in all his goodness and forgiveness would would reach the end of his tolerance of turning the other cheek, nor would he expect or want us as loving people of our neighbors to do so either. In both levels mentioned above we DO have those brave souls who risk all and many times to their own demise to stop the violence and save others. Thank God for those who serve in the capacity of Peace officers and protectors of live and liberty.

Now I know, or at least assume that you are referring to the mentality of a group of like minded people or even a country for goodness sake that believes violence is the means to a end and not just people acting in a way that is not acceptable in a civil society. But it appears and so I also presume that you are stating that the violence is one and the same on both sides? (Please correct me if I wrong.)

For myself, the persecution is always initiated by one side. The one being attack is either innocent or the lesser evil of the two if that satisfies you. – There are terrorist groups from Asia minor, Africa and through out the middle east that IF they could utterly annihilated their perceived enemies (including in the Western Hemisphere) they would immediately go back to killing each other’s tribes as they have for thousands of years. – Again, if Jesus was in the middle of this bloodshed, I can’t imagine that he would allow the innocent to be hurt. – Yes, there is the question that theologians have always struggled with, why does God let bad things happen? – I of course don’t have an answer, other than to refer to the book of Job. – Your the teacher and advisor, what say you?

I know we are not going to agree on this, but Silence (in all its forms) in the face of evil is evil itself.

And to be clear in these conflicts there are those who willingly meet their own demise for the lives of the Innocent.

This is on a totally different level, however at a service you told the story about the woman in the hospital who was near death and a so-called pastor in her room told her she needed to confess the sins she must have committed or she wouldn’t be saved. – Your words were that you never considered yourself to be a violent man, but you grabbed him by the arm and marched him out of the room in justified anger. Sometimes action is the right course to take.- Even atheist Richard Dawkins once wrote that a man not willing to fight evil for the goodness of his God is one not truly accepting that his God exists.

I hope peace is always with you.