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Quote by: Whatssnew  Can some one tell me why certian people who so strongly believe that war is evil, will at times turn to violence themselves? For example: Many people who hated the Vietnam War would engage in violent riots. Manny soldiers were injured by protesters, I personaly know one who had to use lethal force to keep a riot from attacking a navel base in Washington. Another soldier I know recently told me it wasn't safe at times to advertise you were in the army in public. I recall a while back having a disscussion with a devoted Democrat about the use of violance. He was strongly against the use of violence in any case, so I drilled him, I buged him, insulted his beliefs, and then he hit me. I have my convictions of why this is, but I want to know what you think. |
I can tell you from my perspective, since I feel that war is a great evil AND can imagine myself punching an obnoxious, insulting jerk.
First of all, few people who think war is evil believe that defending against aggression is evil. The Viet Nam War and the Iraq War are viewed as evil, not so much because they are wars, but because they are almost perfect examples of unnecessary and unjust wars. It is the difference between abhorring cold blooded murder and accepting as unfortunately necessary, killing in self defense. Is that really so difficult to understand? War is always tragic, filled with ugliness and unnecessary suffering, and bound to scar the guilty and the innocent. It should always be the last of all possible options. I believe this in the same way I believe you should only kill in self defense as a last resort. I would sit on a jury and convict a person who shot a burglar running from his house with his VCR of murder. It is an issue of necessity. If you are not in real danger of losing your life, you have no justification for taking the life of another. The difference is a difference of scale.
But almost any individual human can be pushed to the point of a violent lashing out in anger. Though not a Christian in the sense that I believe in the redemptive power of the death of Jesus to wash away my sins and secure an everlasting blissful afterlife, I still view the Passion story as fundamentally awe inspiring if true in basic presented facts. That a man could undergo the kind of torment related, and still offer forgiveness to those who tortured him, is beyond impressive to me. But, most humans "fall short of the glory of God" and would curse those who mistreat them. Most humans, no matter what their intellect tells them is good and proper and right behavior, can be induced to some level of violence. You pushed and prodded and incited, and got what you damn well should have been expecting.