Huston Smith on the position of the
Realist (
Legalist
)
faction of China
The World's Religions
. page 163
"We need to execute people like John Walker in order to physically intimidate liberals, by making them realize that they can be killed too. Otherwise they will turn out to be outright traitors."
Ann Coulter here
( -- and for some less obtrusive ways to influence behavior,
see on this site
a page on
/ Persuasion, Manipulation, Advertising, Propaganda / )
"Our readers know that we consider a "union shop" to be in violation of Biblical morality, because it is contrary to the Sixth Commandment, Thou shalt not kill, which means in the accepted sense it has had from the time of Moses, Thou shalt not coerce (force your will on your neighbor).
In the New Testament the same idea is expressed by Christ "positively," namely, Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5). The term " meek" does not, in our opinion, refer to weaklings or cowards, but to people who have relinquished a claim to forcing their neighbors or coercing them, and instead are resigned to relying on persuasion, and who permit disagreement or opposition, and who rely on reasonableness..."
Dr. Dirk Jellema On The Idea That Coercion Is Moral
by Frederick Nymeyer
Progressive Calvinism, November, 1955
In the OT, the meek are those wholly relying on God rather than their own strength to defend them against injustice. Thus, meekness toward evil people means knowing God is permitting the injuries they inflict, that He is using them to purify His elect, and that He will deliver His elect in His time. (Is. 41:17, Lu. 18:1-8) Gentleness or meekness is the opposite to self-assertiveness and self-interest. It stems from trust in God's goodness and control over the situation. The gentle person is not occupied with self at all.
Consider the sixth commandment as explained in the Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day XL:
"What does God require in the sixth commandment? That I, neither in thought, nor in word or gesture, much less in deed, dishonor, hate, wound, or kill my neighbor, whether by myself or by another, but lay aside all desire of revenge; moreover, that I harm not myself nor willfully expose myself to any danger. Therefore, also the magistrate is armed with the sword to prevent murder.
But this commandment seems to speak only of murder? In forbidding murder, God teaches us that He abhors the root of murder, as envy, hatred, anger, and desire of revenge; and that He accounts all these as murder.
But is it enough that we do not kill our neighbor in any such way? No; for when God forbids envy, hatred, and anger, He commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves; to show patience, peace, meekness, mercy, and all kindness towards him, prevent his hurt as much as in us lies, and do good even to our enemies."
The absence of coercion makes society voluntary, makes it free, makes it happy. The goal of love, the goal of freedom, is the absence of all coercion, except the eventual coercion to resist evil.
We believe in a voluntary society. We believe in a non-coercive society. We believe in meekness, forbearance, patience, persuasion in all ordinary affairs of life, and believe in resort to coercion and violence only as the last resort in order to restrain evil.
To say, thou shalt not kill, means to us, thou shalt not coerce, threaten, engage in violence, restrict a neighbor's freedom of choice.
Reverend Gerrit Hoeksema on:
It Has Not Been Proven from Scripture to be Sin
by Frederick Nymeyer
Progressive Calvinism, July, 1955
"Some people don't respect the law for the law, so they have to respect the law for the fear.
Fear of being caught, fear of being punished, fear of being clubbed; whatever."
interview with Robert Gabriel, Major, Ohio National Guard
in
Kent State / May 4 : Echoes Through a Decade
Scott Bills, editor,
page 121
The May 4, 1970 homepage
-- and here's a book entitled
Communication Crisis at Kent State; A Case Study
by Phillip K. Tompkins
"Communication Crisis". Jeez. Some "communication crisis".
"Men, in a word, must necessarily be controlled either by a power within them or by a power without them.; either by the Word of God or by the strong arm of man; either by the Bible or by the bayonet"
— Robert Winthrop, U.S. Speaker of the House, 1849
quoted
here
"The United States said Thursday it regretted deaths in a NATO bomb hit on civilians in Kosovo, but said Yugoslavian President Slobodan Milosevic bore ultimate blame for the deeply embarrassing "error." "
"Here's a list of the countries that the U.S. has bombed since the end of World War II --
In how many of these instances did a democratic government, respectful of human rights, occur as a direct result?"
"... when Freud finally got permission to leave Vienna in 1938, the Gestapo obliged him to sign a certificate saying that he had been well treated by the authorities. He added a sentence of his own: 'I can heartily recommend the Gestapo to anyone'."
Author expresses a hope for people "who will understand and assimilate the fundamental difference between the justification of violence and the explanation of its sources. The movement from 'justify' to 'explain' is complex and hard but exactly there lies the hope for a solution."
" ... the statistics are "monstrous". In our century alone, nearly 36 million have been killed in battle in the various wars. An incredible 120 million more have been killed by the various genocidal programs carried out by governments. "the total killed by governments in cold blood was almost four times that of war. It was as though a nuclear war had already occurred." "
An Unnatural Order
: Why We Are Destroying the Planet and Each
Other
by Jim Mason
page 272
on
Lethal Politics : Soviet Genocide and Mass Murder
by R. J. Rummel