This link is to a Breakpoint commentary about the man in combat. I am morally comfortable with acts of violence in the service of protecting self and others, but have never had to engage in anything of this sort.
This below is from an old blog.
Pacifism…
April 20, 2007 by singlechristianman
Earlier in life I decided, based on inferences I drew from things I heard in church, that Pacifism was the only biblical approach that could be taken to the question of one’s private moral capacity to wage war; either on behalf of one’s self in the defense of self or others, or even in service of the state. I made an Augustinian sort of journey away from that, no thanks to anyone’s help. My questions were turned aside and I was, essentiallly, told what my questions were — a very frustrating kind of experience (I still take it as a near-deliberate offense when someone presumes to know what my “real” question is and ignores what my real question is). I was on my own. The denomination I had been raised in was not teaching Pacifism; rather, they failed to teach the logic and reason that goes along with an understanding of when to purposefully use force.
Anyway I have long since moved beyond this. Basically I wound up with that wrong answer because I did not realize at the time that I was, ironically, letting others — in this case, authority figures in the church — define for me what the questions were.
I still do not accept the idea that the state’s instruction or blessing to an act of force makes it per se moral or necessary (Exempla gratia: Break up that lawful demonstration! Torture that prisoner! ….Other examples could be much more subtle). But I reject that one-size-fits-all passivity that Pacifism seems to me to be for many. Having said that, though, I have respect for principled Pacifists who have the courage of their convictions and know why they believe and act as they do. I can do this because I had their ideas once, and have felt the sting of smarmy siblings in the fold who reprove them without knowing the true “why” of their ideas*. I also recognize that there are contexts in which someone might not be a Pacifist but would lay aside a natural and moral right to self defense in service of yet a higher ideal.
For about a year I have been half-joking that after doing tango for awhile I would move on to a martial art; perhaps Aikido. I would still like to do this but I’m just now on the cusp of starting to move out of the “beginner” stage in tango. Stay tuned. For now I rely on a firearm as my Omega defense, and such brains as I still have.
————————————————————————
(*One pastor told me to my face that I would be rather “red” than “dead” .. in fact I was just looking for biblical instruction. On the other extreme of being accused of being a communist sympathizer or something, there are a few of those evangelical women who swoon away with a case of the vapors if someone suggests that young men should be taught to actually fight effectively by someone, somewhere. Maybe “bandwidth” considerations keep this kind of lesson out of church camp. But maybe on the other hand associating a strong moral code and instruction in christian ethics with hand to hand fighting is a good idea. Ignoring the masculine instinct to exert force to protect others is like ignoring the masculine instinct for physical intimacy with a woman. Viewed in this light, discouraging men from learning martial arts, as some churches do, is kind of like reproving men for seeking a marriage partner (which some churches do in an oblique sort of way). By the time they are teenagers, most young men raised in the church intuitively understand that this is often a place where their masculinity is repressed rather than blessed. The last they heard about Jesus was that he was a kid in a manger, sort of like a precious moments figurine; or maybe a guy in a robe with a soft facial expression. They haven’t met the one described in Revelations whose appearance on the scene made a grown man who had faced torture and prison to fall down like he was dead, with a need to be told there wasn’t any reason to be afraid.)
Combative…..
June 5, 2008 by desertson
This link is to a Breakpoint commentary about the man in combat. I am morally comfortable with acts of violence in the service of protecting self and others, but have never had to engage in anything of this sort.
This below is from an old blog.
Pacifism…
April 20, 2007 by singlechristianman
Earlier in life I decided, based on inferences I drew from things I heard in church, that Pacifism was the only biblical approach that could be taken to the question of one’s private moral capacity to wage war; either on behalf of one’s self in the defense of self or others, or even in service of the state. I made an Augustinian sort of journey away from that, no thanks to anyone’s help. My questions were turned aside and I was, essentiallly, told what my questions were — a very frustrating kind of experience (I still take it as a near-deliberate offense when someone presumes to know what my “real” question is and ignores what my real question is). I was on my own. The denomination I had been raised in was not teaching Pacifism; rather, they failed to teach the logic and reason that goes along with an understanding of when to purposefully use force.
Anyway I have long since moved beyond this. Basically I wound up with that wrong answer because I did not realize at the time that I was, ironically, letting others — in this case, authority figures in the church — define for me what the questions were.
I still do not accept the idea that the state’s instruction or blessing to an act of force makes it per se moral or necessary (Exempla gratia: Break up that lawful demonstration! Torture that prisoner! ….Other examples could be much more subtle). But I reject that one-size-fits-all passivity that Pacifism seems to me to be for many. Having said that, though, I have respect for principled Pacifists who have the courage of their convictions and know why they believe and act as they do. I can do this because I had their ideas once, and have felt the sting of smarmy siblings in the fold who reprove them without knowing the true “why” of their ideas*. I also recognize that there are contexts in which someone might not be a Pacifist but would lay aside a natural and moral right to self defense in service of yet a higher ideal.
For about a year I have been half-joking that after doing tango for awhile I would move on to a martial art; perhaps Aikido. I would still like to do this but I’m just now on the cusp of starting to move out of the “beginner” stage in tango. Stay tuned. For now I rely on a firearm as my Omega defense, and such brains as I still have.
————————————————————————
(*One pastor told me to my face that I would be rather “red” than “dead” .. in fact I was just looking for biblical instruction. On the other extreme of being accused of being a communist sympathizer or something, there are a few of those evangelical women who swoon away with a case of the vapors if someone suggests that young men should be taught to actually fight effectively by someone, somewhere. Maybe “bandwidth” considerations keep this kind of lesson out of church camp. But maybe on the other hand associating a strong moral code and instruction in christian ethics with hand to hand fighting is a good idea. Ignoring the masculine instinct to exert force to protect others is like ignoring the masculine instinct for physical intimacy with a woman. Viewed in this light, discouraging men from learning martial arts, as some churches do, is kind of like reproving men for seeking a marriage partner (which some churches do in an oblique sort of way). By the time they are teenagers, most young men raised in the church intuitively understand that this is often a place where their masculinity is repressed rather than blessed. The last they heard about Jesus was that he was a kid in a manger, sort of like a precious moments figurine; or maybe a guy in a robe with a soft facial expression. They haven’t met the one described in Revelations whose appearance on the scene made a grown man who had faced torture and prison to fall down like he was dead, with a need to be told there wasn’t any reason to be afraid.)
Posted in Commentary, More About Me | No Comments Yet
Comments RSS