All the conversation in the most recent news cycle about failure of courage on the part of some who hid instead of defending our children reminds me of times when I was deciding whether or not to apply for a concealed carry permit at a time and during circumstances in which I believed there was a real potential risk to me and others. Would I take the life of someone threatening me ? Threatening those I love? Threatening those for whom I was responsible? Threatening unknown indefensible innocents? Threatening random strangers? What could sacrificing my own life without any effort to confront evil possibly accomplish for anyone? It only emboldens evil to threaten more innocents and leaves me as one more victim of evil’s own death throes. I wonder what thoughts went through Dietrich Bonhoeffer‘s mind as he contemplated his intention to end Hitler’s savage assault on humankind. What was his heart’s motive and desire? Who was he listening to and to whom was he talking? To whom was Nicolas Cruz listening and to whom was he talking? What moral code allows one to contemplate killing one to protect many or to kill many to avenge oneself? The spirit of the law does have a bearing on the moral shading of the dilemma one contemplates. #donotmurder.
Posted by Nicola Gibson February 24 at 8:55am · on Twitter
·“Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.” -C.S. Lewis
Post-It Note: 3-23-18
A gentleman we know was present at an event where a lot of people who are mutual acquaintances were present. In the course of their time together a criminal shot someone in a town a short distance away and everyone in the place they were staying was alerted to be on the lookout, stay in groups for safety, and take care to watch for people who were not a part of the event. As they talked among themselves they discovered that a significant contingent of those present, men and women, were carrying concealed weapons, which were not banned in the place they were staying. It was reassuring to know that so many people were trained and equipped in the event of a violent shooting incident. He did say no one dared touch the AC thermostat setting with that many peri-menopausal women carrying concealed handguns! LOL! Just saying……..