"Go kick his ass."
"Maybe he won't fight."
"Will he bleed? That's all we care about."
- Southpark
It takes two to fight.
Yeah, but it only takes one big one to beat me up.
- Me
Featured comment, by Pascal:
"I'll have to agree with you (once again) Eolake. One is enough to start violence, if they can pick a target. In reality, it takes two to make peace."
Actually, if we are gonna get all deep about it, I do think that metaphysically, if you are 100.00% pacifist at heart, nobody will ever attack you. But that is a high spiritual level. The reason I said the other thing is that the statement "it takes two to fight" is the kind of lame thing parents will say to a kid who is being bullied, and at the human level it is just not helpful at all.
Heh... Nobody says it bluntly like South Park. Under these heaps of vulgarity and profanity, there's some real food for thought.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to agree with you (once again) Eolake. One is enough to start violence, if they can pick a target. In reality, it takes two to make peace.
Symbolically, it takes two wings to fly...
"Always love your enemies. If for no other reason, do it because it infuriates them!" :-)
the statement "it takes two to fight" is the kind of lame thing parents will say to a kid who is being bullied, and at the human level it is just not helpful at all.
ReplyDelete"Sticks and stones" doesn't work either. Because sometimes words will get back-up from the fists.
"Always love your enemies. If for no other reason, do it because it infuriates them!" :-) (Pascal said)
ReplyDeleteAccording to the word of God this is true.
Long ago I was attacked by a man weilding a ballbat who cracked me over the head nearly fracturing my skull.
The blood ran everywhere. It poured down my entire face and it burned like fire. It soaked my shirt as well.
The doctor that treated me at ER was surprized the blow hadn't killed me. The man who attacked me was arrested and charged with felonious assault and received 5 years probation.
Only a few close people know why such a thing happened. He would have finished me off had he not been stopped.
And if my attacker had swung a few more times I wouldn't be writing this post today. He took one swing (which I never saw coming.)
My girlfriend at the time stopped him from murdering me. Sadly but truly it was my fault to start with.
I'm not proud of the sin I committed to have this kind of violence erupt in my life.
It was the grace of my Lord Jesus that spared my life.
Today I can't even drive down that certain street in that city where it happened. The haunting memory is too much for me.
The line that Pascal quoted, "Will he bleed? That's all we care about."
That's what breaks my heart. Many people feel that way.
I had numerous opportunities to get revenge, but I never did. But I thought about it for several weeks after the beating occurred.
I wept in the silent hallways in my apartment building for days. Not because of my near-death experience but because of my own sin. (The reason it all went down.)
Even now, I wipe a tear away remembering that bloody morning long ago.(I'm too ashamed to confess what I did to provoke the tragedy.)
Sometimes I still see the blood, the flashing red lights, the police, the paramedics, the gray concrete beneath my feet.
if you are 100.00% pacifist at heart, nobody will ever attack you. (Pascal said)
In my case Pascal this was not so. But I did learn through my suffering that whatever a man does sow that shall he also reap.
The physical pain eventually went away but the emotional scars remain.
To all my friends on this blog......
ReplyDeleteTHESE DREAMS
In the library of my mind
These Dreams revolve in time
Graphic images standing tall
Moving through stain-glass walls
A theater devoid of reality
Casting a masquerade before me
Reflecting a prism of light
In my pre-dawn flight
These dreams bridge a chasm
In their endless realm of space
Creating flowery meadows of peace
Chronicled in silent sleep
These dreams forever remain
Intangible moments that reign
Transcending a brief span
In the wandering mind of man.
I had numerous opportunities to get revenge, but I never did. But I thought about it for several weeks after the beating occurred.
ReplyDeleteAlas my good man, that must have taken quite a restraint upon you. Not many could say that for the dark world we inhabit whispers that revenge is sweet and justified.
But in this Kingdom of violence and hate I admire the fact that you did not seek out retaliation.
Your sin must have been a grave one? I personally think that mind flogging should be instituted. I'm not suggesting this in your case because I know not the particulars.
The prison system of today doesn't work as well as in the days of old when accounts were settled almost instantly.
I must admit it's difficult to love your enemies. My gaurds are always instructed to protect but not to cause bodily harm. Unfortunatly there are times when this cannot be prevented.
God once said that those that live by the sword shall die by the sword.
I personally believe that. The real change comes from within the man himself. If he is not willing to change then he will continue down his own path of destruction.
I do know that justice in this world isn't always swift or precise.
"Sadly but truly it was my fault to start with."
ReplyDeleteThere's only one sin I know of that might justify killing a person, and that's if this person is at that moment threatening another life. Self-defense.
This is in theory, of course. In real life, I've never "felt like murdering" anybody yet... and I'm glad for it. Not something I'd look forward to!
"Will he bleed? That's all we care about."
That line wasn't quoted by me. Eolake quoted it from the very daring show South Park.
And only, I believe, to initiate another intelligent reflexion on an important issue.
SP's style is "a little" beyond the worst I'd ever think of saying.
"if you are 100.00% pacifist at heart, nobody will ever attack you. (Pascal said)"
Again, this is Eolake's, after the excerpt from my comment.
Just to avoid any mix-ups. :-)
In fact, I don't 100% approve this statement of his. Sometimes, the mere fact that you are who/what/how you are, by birth for instance, will be enough for some to attack you. I'm sure most Black Americans in the southern States tend to agree with me. Not to mention all the european jews who were alive in 1940 and still are today. (To name only two examples.)
But maybe Eolake meant this attitude/perception thing again. Care to develop, Blogmeister?
"To all my friends on this blog......
THESE DREAMS"
Simply beautiful, loved it. Nice Christmas present!
You ARE a poet. I'll say no more. :-)
"It is rather difficult to maintain non-violence in all regards. But then, I think we make a mistake when we assume we have to."
Agreed. We don't ALWAYS have to. I'd rather kill an idiot in self-defense than die trying to enlighten him at the wrong moment.
I would try if possible to enlighten him of course, just to make sure whether I NEED to kill or not. If circumstances permit such a luxury.
Because many of us may feel they'd rather lose their life than become killers, but if you consider that your loved ones might be next, this definitely changes your priorities.
Battle of the Worlds was a very interesting film in that regard. An ordinary and gentle man, who tries to react intelligently in a live-or-die situation where he and his children are brutally cast. A very good re-writing of the original novel, which I had read (it featured just a lone protagonist who's lost touch with his fiancée).
Don't worry, there are no spoilers in all that. Not even enough to make a decent trailer!
"Humans tend to think in terms of extremes. It's either all or nothing."
Truer words were never spoken. Uh, I mean SELDOM spoken!!! ;o)
"while we may get dragged into a fight every now and then we needn't revel in the bloodshed."
I realize how cliché this may sound, but if you revel in the bloodshed, you've already lost the most important fight. Within yourself.
(Hey, clichés are often truths that we just hear frequently!)
"The reason wars continue is because we de-humanize our foes so we are free to kill without remorse."
And yet, sometimes we have little other choice in order to go on! :-(
I've lived in the middle of war for nearly my whole life. But the disappearance of this damned madness would cause me no nostalgia, I can tell you that!
"It is not an enemy we fight, it is our brother."
Here in arabic land, the notion of "enemy brothers" is sadly ordinary. You'll see no worse bitter enemies than some siblings. :-(
Why is it, that we often hurt the most those who are closest to our heart?
"It takes two for the outward expression to have form, but it begins within the mind and heart long before aggressive action enters the picture."
Now we're in full agreement. And you're proving you're not "just another of those Peace And Love ever-dreaming hippie types". But THAT I already knew. :-)
"I personally think that mind flogging should be instituted."
This excellent idea would certainly save a lot of money on hospital bills. And a lot of physical pain!
"My gaurds are always instructed to protect but not to cause bodily harm."
I think a good level in kung-fu makes this easier to achieve. Judo is also based essentially on defeating without violence. (When was the last time you heard of an injury during a judo competition?)
Usually, most martial arts, heavily inspired by Eastern wisdom, will teach as much about how NOT to fight than about how to fight properly. I love that.
You appear to be a wise ruler, King Zod.
Note how I expressed it:
ReplyDelete"Actually, if we are gonna get all deep about it, I do think that metaphysically, if you are 100.00% pacifist at heart, nobody will ever attack you. But that is a high spiritual level."
Maybe a few people have reached that level, but they are probably one in a million. (Of course, how would we know? It is not in the nature of the thing to promote such a state.)
"To all my friends on this blog......
ReplyDeleteTHESE DREAMS"
Simply beautiful, loved it. Nice Christmas present!
You ARE a poet. I'll say no more. :-)
Thank you Pascal my friend.
You appear to be a wise ruler, King Zod.
ReplyDeleteThank you my good man.
To Pascal I bestow the crown jester.
Welcome great entertainer and articulas one.
You have been chosen to hover over this mystic blog and pass out your words of enlightment and laughter.
Congratulations.
"To Pascal I bestow the crown jester."
ReplyDeleteYay! I'm getting a date with Ashley Olsen, woohoo!!! :-)))
"And yet there are people who live and never suffer because of the conditions they were born into, even when those conditions should have led to tragedy. There is more to it than somebody looking to inflict harm and you being in the way."
The Count of Monte Cristo seems a good example of how you can do the opposite of crumbling to pieces under extreme circumstances. (That little revenge matter notwithstanding...)
"The idea Eolake's presenting is that for something to happen you have to be in alignment with it on some level."
Well, in spite of some massacres of Indians occurring, Gandhi eventually triumphed.
There's another very interesting example, right here and now in gloomy Lebanon. After a pro-government political meeting, a young chiite man was killed, although it's not quite clear by whom. This is the third time it's happened this month. If the Hezbollah were after civil war, they had the choice of excuses. Well, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah appeared on TV and officially stated : "The Sunnites of [the area where this happened] are our brothers. Let nobody show hostility to them!" In other words, he's expressly forbidding his militants from any sort of retaliation or escalation. He doesn't want to be lured by some into igniting a civil war, so he just won't. However you feel about his political alignment, this man has brains. "He ain't nobody's fool, yo!"
Which means this country of mine isn't beyond hope just yet. Thank you Santa.
"This isn't even scratching the surface."
Are you sure you want to start scratching? This could take time. :-)
"think about all the things that just happen, all the oversights that are made when something should have been plain to see."
This alone opens up near-infinite potential for power and control over your life. So much needless waste happens every day!
"That's what separates the pacifistic from those who lead peaceful lives. (Although we're not really separate from them at all, but you get the point.)"
I do, but you were right : this is getting complex fast. :-)
"We're focused too much on the doing and not enough on the being."
Wel, when it comes to sex, I know I am, but I very much enjoy doing! ;o)
"Feelings do not grasp hold of us, it is we who cling to them. I know common sense says otherwise, as does my own experience. (To some degree. I've had experiences which contradict those as well.)"
Careful now, you're about to lose me.
"it is not easy to expand beyond the sensory, but we must if it is truth we seek. (I'm not denying the merits of science"
Science also really took off when it cut loose from the sensory to seek the truth behind the witnessed phenomenons. Using the mind. You're not exactly the definition of a scientophobic...
"On the other hand, I'm quite interested in seeing what will become of quantum physics."
Save me a seat!!!
Um... by "seeing", do you mean with your perceptions? ;o)
"even if the possibilities aren't quite as vast as I believe."
I never knew one could SAY such a paradoxal sentence! You seriously EXPECT the possibilities in reality not to be all you BELIEVE? Where's your sense of bigotry, man? What has become of noble self-delusioning in today's youth?
I give up. In all my years of forming fanatic closed minds, I've never seen worse pupil material than this guy! Out, out, out! Go read a book or something!