#violence #religion #Christianity #Christians #TeachingsOfJesus
Christianity teaches us to love thy neighbor as thyself.
But there are many people who say they are Christians who support, even encourage, violence against others.
Perhaps they believe that violence, for the right cause, is just, even ordained by God.
Certainly, history teaches us about wars fought over religion. We saw Protestants and Catholics fight in Northern Irelands a few decades ago. Many relics of that fighting remain in Northern Ireland today. Even though the fight was not over religion per se, most of those who were loyal to the British crown were Protestant, and most of those who wanted Ireland united as a separate republic were Catholic.
Today, the majority of people in Northern Ireland are Catholic, according to tour guides. Peace prevails there today, but few believe the country will remain peaceful forever. The fear of more “troubles,” as they call them, is prevalent.
In the U.S., some Christians feel they are “under attack,” from those who are not like them.
They believe they have to fight, with whatever weapons necessary, to regain “their” country.
The U.S. has always been a melting pot of religions, nationalities, races etc. So, what the Christians who feel under attack want is power – and they want to subjugate all others to their way of life.
People are entitled to believe what they believe, live however they want, as long as they don’t harm others, or interfere in others’ lives. But, some actually want to interfere in the lives of others, whom they see as not believing what they believe.
There is also the adage “live and let live.”
That means you pay no attention to lifestyles that don’t conform to yours, as long as practitioners of those lifestyles don’t bother you.
An effort to keep children away from those their parents hate can be futile, if the child grows to deviate from his or parents’ beliefs.
You can’t stop others from being themselves using force. It will not be a long-term solution, if you are inclined to feel that way. Today, the internet and social media provide many ways for like-minded people to gather, communicate and socialize.
The children WILL grow to find a way to be who they are, regardless of parental restrictions.
Sometimes, the more a parent interferes in his or her child’s life, the more distant those children become from their parents.
If you are a Christian who feels under attack, ask yourself whether Jesus would behave the way you do. Many things you may oppose were not around in Jesus’ time, or, at least, they were not done openly.
Regardless, Jesus never espoused hatred in any form. His teachings would tell us, or should tell us, to embrace differences among us and live in peace.
Many who want the Ten Commandments posted in every public school classroom would do well to abide by all those commandments.
Peter
Tag Archives: violence
VIOLENCE CREATES MORE PROBLEMS THAN IT SOLVES
#viiolence #HittingBack #SolvingProblems #bullies #ChickenVsEgg
When we are hit, we usually want to hit back.
Sometimes, hitting back is necessary. In fact, we may have been taught as children that the best way to stop a bully is to fight back. The theory went that once the bully saw that you were gutsy enough to fight back, he or she would stop bullying.
Today, that doesn’t always work. Some bullies actually WANT you to hit back, because they believe they can show you to be the aggressor.
In some battles, the question of who started them can be illusive. The origins of a dispute can go back long before the actual violent incident.
Often, the origin of disputes becomes a chicken vs. egg question. Ironically, they can be irrelevant to the problem at hand. Or, long simmering grudges can be the crux of the problem at hand.
The point is that violence is unlikely to eliminate the dispute that caused it.
Why would someone commit violence if it doesn’t solve a problem?
Those who commit violence are often people with problems they cannot solve themselves. They feel put upon by someone, a group or something(s). They have no way out but to lash out.
Other times, those who commit violence let their emotions dictate their behavior. In human nature, that’s very easy to do. Committing violence makes the committer feel better, because his or her pent-up emotions have been released, albeit in a bad way.
Usually, they soon find out that their problems are not only unsolved, they are in even more of a pickle than they were before the violence. The good feelings of releasing pent-up emotions soon turn, well, sour.
Jealousy is another reason for violence. Someone has what you want, so you get it through violence.
That can work, at least if it is things that a person wants – until the perpetrator gets caught. Then, the problems begin anew.
If one commits violence over a person, like a jilted lover, he or she may not get that person back. In fact, it may cause the coveted person to resent the violent person even more.
This begs the age-old question. How does one solve problems without violence?
Talking certainly helps. Listening helps even more.
When there is both talking and listening, on all sides, agreements can be forged. Or, at least, decisions that violence will not solve the problem can be made.
So, the next time you feel aggrieved, by someone or something, stop. Think about how you are going to solve the problem. No matter how angry you may feel, know that expressing that anger through violence will only compound your grievance.
It’s much more easily said than done, of course. But, if one person can think first before acting on a grievance, there can be less violence in the world.
That one person could then become two etc. Better yet, those two can be on both sides of a dispute. When that occurs, resolved disputes abound.
Peter