Conversations with an Unpeaceful Detractor



Me: Anyone who thinks silence means defeated, please think again. Though I still say, violence begets violence. Let’s stop this nonsense of guns. We can all carry guns, but we will all lose in the end.

UD: Violence isn't the best answer, but it is an effective one.

Me: I would not advocate violence, except as an absolute last resort

UD: I'm not advocating violence. But when all other options are exhausted, your hand is forced.

Me:  We would have to qualify the "other options", and "last resort." Clearly, the direction that such bearing of arms will lead to is race-based violence. There are those who mistakenly think that they are well prepared for such a conflict. All I can say is that people who have nothing to lose become very formidable. And by default, their fight will be a just fight, driven by the need for self-defense. Yet, to me, it is amazing that these same people STILL want a peaceful resolution, after all their suffering. There may be, of course, agent provocateurs on both sides, posing as serving the interests of the common people, but with only one mission: to pit one against the other.

Me: One must never rush headlong into a violent conflict, for it is how those "forever wars" started. Eager, and convinced of our own might, we start things that we can never finish. Often, the fight then follows us home.






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