In numerous ways, in our world today, we observe the spectacle of those who are decent being attacked by those who are being brutal. This occurs not only in bouts of language, but also in acts of literal, physical violence--and not only in our own country, but around the world.
Something not understood by those who urge that the decent simply strike back--that they simply retaliate with equal force--is that the decent often have something more in mind than just outliving their attackers. It is not enough for the decent merely to survive. It is essential to them that they survive with their essence of decency intact, that they survive according to their own principles.
In the case of democracy, this means that democracy cannot betray its own principles and become repressive, tyrannical, and dictatorial as it responds to anti-democratic forces. In the case of Christianity--to the extent it is a Christianity that understands itself in light of the Sermon on the Mount--this means that it cannot simply reflexively strike back, and simply hate in return, when violence is inflicted upon it.
In each of these cases, decency's task is more complicated than just winning. It also has other values in mind, for which it would be death to itself to lose, even if it should otherwise preserve some semblance of existence in this world. To survive without these values would be to survive as a corpse.
None of this is understood by those who interpret decency's reticence as weakness.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please feel free to comment.