Matthew 6:19-21---Junyo
Junyo,
Your moral and ethical argument is excellent, and I agree with you when it comes to clarifying the value systems in which we operate.
I hope nobody will conclude that I'm supportive in all cases, of justification for lethal force, because that is not my intention.
(I don't think others put forth that idea explicitly either, despite their enthusiasm to rule their own roost, so to say.)
There are other factors at issue, and I will present my case, and see what you can make of it, okay?
TIME and PLACE and CONTEXT have a lot to do with it. For example, when we have the opportunity to manfully and caringly expound our spiritual values in a friendly manner, a certain atmosphere of peace and mutual respect predominates, and we are friends.
In a social atmosphere involving the breakdown of the rule of law prevails, Self-Defense means that at a certain extreme, the people are the law. It is true in a state of war, but it can also be true in a specific Home Defense situation.
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Permit me to expand my argument, and perhaps yours also. Though I will openly espouse the same value system as yours (religiously) there is a great DIFFICULTY with it.
If we espouse completely, the spirituality of a Messiah, and we extend those values into every area, it becomes a DECONSTRUCTIONIST argument for carrying any weapon or harming any other Man in any way.
How can one even justify CARRYING a weapon, if to be spiritual is to have no means of defending self, home, or neighbor?
Living is a BALANCING ACT. We cannot approach PROPERTY as though it were totally separate from SPIRITUALITY.
Are there moderating arguments? I think so.
The spiritual instruction is that the Master mentioned that there would be a time to pick up the SWORD.
All of this can become complex. That's why TIME, PLACE, and CONTEXT are important.
Laws are founded upon social trust. Before social trust, there was conflict, and the conflict was resolved through force of arms. Then the public trust and goodwill permitted the rule of law. But before the law, people were the law. That's how chaos, mayhem, and villany were put to rest.
There comes a point when villainy must be put down by the PEOPLE. We are a government OF THE PEOPLE. When that trust IN THE PEOPLE is destroyed, chaos will reign again, and in that chaos, men will not be reciting scripture in love, one to the other. People who abide by LAW, must have the right to protect themselves, their neighbors, and their property and their neighbor's property.
If the LAW is used to persecute those who strive to abide by the law, the faith and trust of the people in their LAW is destroyed. When the spririt of the people is destroyed, how then shall they be the whole people of God, when their society protects the lawless, and persecutes those who abide by the law?
We can't have it both ways at once.
If that Texan who did the shooting was your next door neighbor, persecuted for protecting the sanctity of your home, perhaps his house will become a rental. Thieves can rent it, and be your neighbors. In a community which values THIEVES, let them have thieves for their inheritance.
Personally, I think that Texan was a stand up man. He was willing to lay down his life for his brother.
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