Nonviolence

This is something I've been thinking about for a long time and in the last few months I think I've become okay with calling myself a pacifist. The struggle and thought process getting there was a long one, and there continue to be issues that challenge my assumptions.

My basic belief is that Jesus preached and lived a life of nonviolence, and that it is something that I should strive to emulate.

Since all human beings are created in God's image and all are people for whom Christ died, I don't think it's within my rights to inflict violence on anyone, not for any reason.

Burly made a point in a comment on one of my previous posts that there is (or was, or will be) a time for war. While I don't disagree with that, I think for various reasons that Christians should not use that as an excuse to practice violence in their everyday lives (killing in revenge or in self-defense, for example), and I don't believe that Christians should be participants in military exercises designed by the State to take others' lives.

There is a lot more that I'd like to address but current environs (a 5-year-old demanding my attention) don't allow....more later.