During one of the class breaks a student asked a philosophical question regarding protecting life from a religious point of view. It was a good questions that turned into a nice discussion. The harsh realities is that to protect life you may have to take life.
Right Between The Eyes
There really isn’t a good way to sugar coat the topic. You have to ask these questions early on starting with can I take another life to protect my life or my loved one’s life. You can try to dance around the subject, but you are only hurting yourself and your loved ones if you are not brutally honest. There is no easy solution here, which is why you want to have thought this out. You do not want to leave this to the last minute and try to sort it out during a fight. You want to have in place a set of directives that will guide your actions, your choices and your objectives. It is best to keep your directives simple; protect life, secure loved ones, help others in need are some examples. You have to establish that mental line in the sand that says I will do this if they do that. To hope bad things don’t happen to you or your family is a nice thought, but not a very good strategy.
The Bigger Picture
For some the difficulty is compounded by what others might think of you if you are willing to take another’s life. That could very well pose a problem difficult to overcome. You are more concerned what others may think of your actions potentially preventing you from taking the right action. One way to look at this dilemma is you will at least be there to discuss with them versus the alternative. While we are at it, let’s talk about the alternative. What if you don’t do anything? What if you willingly comply with what can clearly be seen as violence or a violent end. Could one make an argument you in a sense committed suicide? I mean failing to intervene or take action on your own behalf to save your own life. Not to mention who will then protect your loved ones, those who cannot protect themselves such as children or the elderly. If you do nothing to protect yourself you do nothing to protect them.
All Lives Are Valuable
If you do nothing to save your own life what does that really say or mean about you. It could mean lots of things for sure, but suicide is one not a lot of people think about. It’s certainly a subject left up to those holier than me, but it does give you something to consider. Taking action to protect yourself does not make you a bad person. One concern I see is how so many people do not value their own life. They have been taught to believe their life doesn’t matter. This could not be further from the truth. All lives matter, every life is worth protecting. The degree to which you are willing to value your life will play a large role in what you do to protect your life.
Valuing human life is important, I firmly believe in this sanctity. If someone views you less than human or your life has no value in their eyes and they are intent on causing you great bodily harm, injury or death, you should consider that a clear threat to your life and take whatever steps necessary to protect life, up to and including deadly force.
