Christians, take notes and bookmark this page for the next time some dirty Hippy tries to tell you that your “pro-violence-in-general stance,” doesn’t fit with your Christian ideals. I’ve never had this problem, as I am not a Christian, and find such arguments to be laughable, but I often see debates get railroaded off the original topic by such arguments. I hate it when Leftards railroad conservatives from their original intent, so I provide you with this public service, courtesy of Captain’s Quarters, and Radioactive Liberty.

The Jerusalem Post reports that The Vatican wishes to revise it’s lengthy tradition of opposing all armed conflict.

Enough now with this turning the other cheek! It’s our duty to protect ourselves.” Thus spoke Monsignor Velasio De Paolis, secretary of the Vatican’s supreme court, referring to Muslims. Explaining his apparent rejection of Jesus’ admonition to his followers to “turn the other cheek,” De Paolis noted that “The West has had relations with the Arab countries for half a century…and has not been able to get the slightest concession on human rights.”

It’s good to finally see an authority figure in the Church accept the idea that we must not accept abuse and punishment at any cost, regardless of the need for self-defense or self-preservation. Captain Ed kindly points out:

The instruction of turning the other cheek has long been prone to misinterpretation. Nothing in Christianity requires its adherents to blithely sentence themselves or their brethren to abuse or death, nor did Christ teach that in his instruction. Jesus taught us patience, and not to blindly return every provocation with violence. He taught peace as the first resort, but even Jesus did not use that as an exclusive strategy. The Bible shows Jesus violently ejecting the moneychangers from the temple, for instance, hardly a turn-the-other-cheek moment. He also told his apostles, “Let him who has no sword sell his mantle and buy one” (Luke 22:36). The Old Testament, of course, has a number of passages where God directs His people to commit total war on other populations.

The bit about the Old Testament should be no surprise. The God of much of the OT is Yaweh, who was the God of War until, Yahweh usurped the role of storm and fertility God from Baal. As the God of War, Yahweh is a violent and jealous God, as demonstrated by the commandment, “No lord shall stand before myself.”

Captain Ed continues:

St. Thomas Aquinas developed a formal Just War Doctrine, which recognizes that Christians must love peace but not shrink from confronting evil. That doctrine has grown in use over the centuries in Western thought to become a moral imperative. World leaders have often referred to its teachings, even those who aren’t Catholic and lead secular nations. The one “nation” that has rejected the concept in its entirety recently has been the Vatican, ironically.

There you have it. The next time someone wants to throw your religious convictions in your face, you now come armed with an appropriate response to their attempted railroading of the debate. It is clear that self-preservation takes precedence over all else. Let me just put in one more thought. If you are dead, or worse, now living under a Communist or Islamist dictatorship that takes every step to destroy Christians and Christianity, what purpose is being served by your unwillingness to fight back?

XPosted on Fmragtops Spews

Category: Politics [Yawn] · Worthless News