Violence Never Solved Anything...

I owe this one to my mom, who used to say, "Violence never solved anything." Growing up, I had anger and rage issues, mostly because we moved a lot (17 times before I got to college). I was bullied a lot and could write books on the topic. I handled most of my problems with other kids, and especially bullies, by fighting. I was never afraid to fight, always willing, to the point of putting my life on the life every time, but I hated fighting. Because of the anger and rage issues I had a world-class temper, and I knew how to (street) fight, so I always won, and I didn't care about how big the other guy was or where we were. When anger takes over, you are blinded. Mom was trying to get me to look for other ways to deal with my problems and emotions. I wasn't until I came to loathe the person I'd become that I got on my knees and prayed to God for deliverance. It's hard to change your own heart, and after a lot of tears and anger and failed attempts, God is the one who did it.

Mom was right in one respect, that violence wasn't the answer to my problems. But all of those experiences gave me a deep understanding of the nature of violence. And I came to realize that not all violence is equal. Jeff Jacoby, journalist for the Boston Globe, put it this way, "A moral world requires moral violence." He's entirely correct. The photo of some of our local police, above, illustrates this--the police are trained and equipped to use moral violence when required under the law, to enforce the law and to serve and protect citizens. When police officers enter a school to engage and stop an active shooter, that is moral violence. When you defend your house from a home invader, that's moral violence. When a woman fights off an attacker who is trying to sexually assault her, that is moral violence.

There is a difference in the type of violence.

And if there is moral violence, then the opposite must also be true--there is evil violence. This is probably satan's greatest lie, that he and evil do not exist, and nothing could be further from the truth. All violence is not evil. But the violence committed by the rapist, the burglar, the child sex trafficker, the mass shooter - those are all evil. When evil violence is happening, the only way to stop it is with moral violence.

There is a difference.