“you’re letting the terrorists win!”

i live in my friend B’s basement. it’s not as weird as it sounds; he’s about a decade older than me, i’ve known him for ten or so years, and the basement’s actually furnished into a complete apartment- bedroom, kitchen w/stove, sink, etc., bathroom, living room, etc. and i pay him rent so i’m definitely not mooching.

occasionally we’ll talk about politics. well, he’ll talk about them. i prefer not to because it usually only ends in argument or judgment, etc. because people seem to think that your character should be entirely based upon your ideas of political guidance and so forth.

well, over the past two days it really hit the fan.

a bit of background. i’m a bit closer to the “liberal” political spectrum (i’m a pacifist, i support civil rights and liberties, etc.) and he’s a bit more republican (extremist conservative, in some cases). so we don’t always agree (that’s not even the issue; i don’t care if we disagree. he does).

conversation (paraphrased, because my memory is horrible) goes as follows:

B: so you think that war is wrong?

me: this war? yes. absolutely.

(we talk some more about it, etc.)

B: so i’ve got a question for you, then.

me: shoot.

B: if you had the chance to “take out” (his actual words. it’s murder, B. not “killing”- murder) someone you know was going to kill a million people, would you do it?

me: (long story short, i say no. summation: it’s impossible to know for sure that he would do such a thing. military intelligence is able to lie and be manipulated, and i am not able to know the heart of another human so it’s not my right to place judgment. more on this at the end)

B: really? what about when you stand in front of G-d and He asks you, “why did you let those people die?”

me: i’m not worried. i didn’t “let them die;” i never killed them. i’m not responsible for them. also, G-d knows my heart, He knows i didn’t want them to die.

B: i’m sorry, that’s just immoral, and evil, etc. and-

me: yeah. okay, goodnight.

i had to just walk away. because he wasn’t going to listen. he wanted me to agree with him; he was trying to trap me in some logic snare. but that’s the thing- it’s true. G-d doesn’t care about what we do, He cares about why we do them. i know you can turn this into a case of support for capital punishment and so forth, but there are problems with doing that (in the case of capital punishment, for instance, it’s got a commandment against it… not to mention Christ preached on pacifism and loving thy neighbour. and throwing someone in a chair and electrocuting them is not loving them, no matter how you spin it).

so then today, he apologizes for calling me immoral because he knows i’m loving.

but he dives right back into it. he can’t just let it drop.

B: i’d save your life, man. if i had to kill someone to save your life, i’d do it.

me: i’d save your life, too, but…

B: but? would you kill someone to save me? would you kill someone to save K (his 2?yr old daughter)?

me: you can’t put it like that. the chances of that happening are not existent. it’s not gonna come down to me mono-a-mono some axe-wielding maniac.

B: but you wouldn’t take him out?

me: no, i wouldn’t. because you don’t need to kill someone to incapacitate someone. i’m all for restraining him, but i wouldn’t kill the guy.

B: you would let my daughter get hacked up by some maniac?

me: no. i wouldn’t hand K to the guy and be like, “here! whack away!”

B: wow. man, i thought you were better than that.

(see? not listening to what i say.)

i kept trying to tell him maybe this p.o.v. will change when I’M a father, maybe it won’t. he just can’t respect that other people have different valid opinions, i think. also, i think he’s slightly racist, or biased, or something. there’s some underlying hate issues here that he’s not really acknowledging; he’s making and taking it all too personal.

i just hope he doesn’t get possessed. “no guys, it’s totally okay! you can take him out with a clean headshot, don’t even bother with an exorcism! let’s solve our problems by murder!” no. sorry.

he called me idealistic and naive.

WHAT IS FUCKING WRONG WITH THAT? why should i give into what the world wants me to feel, to think? why should i compromise what’s been laid on my heart, why should i deny others love, simply because other people are doing so? that’s motherfucking stupid. i’m sorry, the thought that i need to start giving in to some bullshit political system and some false indoctrinated religion and some fucked-up sense of selfishness just makes me angry. (you’re right, B. i’m pretty sure you aren’t reading, but i WAS getting mad. i wasn’t there yet, but that is why i left. you need to LISTEN. conversation is a two-way street, and your turning a discussion into an argument because i disagree is really unnecessary.)

Christ could have murdered the man that Legion possessed. but He didn’t. He had mercy and tried to (and did) REMEDY THE PROBLEM, not take the “easy” way out.

i just think his faith is weak and he’s cynical (funny, usually i seem to be the cynic because in a prev. discussion we had, i don’t trust people as easily. i still think you shouldn’t trust everyone completely right off the bat; that’s not trust). i can understand that, he’s been through a lot.

but he places too much focus on his family. i think he makes his family an idol.

“what? such heresy, brent!” you might say. no, it’s true!

B brings up the OT (that’s Old Testament for you non-xians) an awful lot as support for “killing” (murdering) others. but conveniently, he does not reconcile the story of Abraham and Isaac- when a boy’s OWN FATHER is commanded to murder his son as a sacrifice (it wouldn’t really be a sacrifice if it wasn’t murder, technically; all sacrifices need suffering. that’s why we call things sacrifices today- they cause us to suffer for a greater good).

and i don’t just have the OT on my side on this one. he also forgets the New Testament’s Luke 14:26-33(NIV) (emphasis added)! these are the words of Christ!

26“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. 27And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

28“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? 29For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’

31“Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

WOW! that’s pretty powerful stuff! we should never abandon G-d’s encouragement of purity and Christ’s teachings of love, not even for vengeance (for what IS our own sense of “justice”? it’s pretty fucked up; we, as human beings, are very imperfect so we cannot ever rely on our internal sense of “humane-ness” or what’s important to us- we need to rely on what Christ has shown us).

(note: i’d love any and all of you to leave feedback. even if you disagree with me; that’s okay! i’m curious to hear what you think/feel and why you do, whether you agree with me or not! leave a comment!)