Don't we all want a better world? It depends on our occupation, and if we're happy with our lives and fortunes now. The better our life is, the less motivated we are to change things. A large number of people are getting very wealthy and powerful within the brutal and criminal system they've contrived. They like things just as they are. Entire nations are nothing but shams and criminal rackets designed to enrich the top five-percent and fleece the ninety-five percent. It's been like this throughout history.
How secure are you? Can anybody turn your world upside down? The honest answer is yes, there are events and people who could do it. We must take steps toward security, and pay more for it if we see weaknesses.
If you live in a big city chances are you've seen a lot of lawlessness, and a serious uptick in violence of all kinds. Why? Because a certain percentage of people enjoy crime and violence. It makes them feel good, and they sense there are no longer consequences for their crimes, so they will commit more of them.
Only a competent and rigorous police force is capable of providing an environment for civilization to flourish, and for the greatest numbers of people to feel some security.
New York City before 1991 was a dangerous place to live. The crime rate was huge, and everyone sensed it was out of control. Then Rudy Giuliani was elected mayor, and the city turned around dramatically. All crimes, from felonies on down the scale, decreased, even as the city grew. Tourism returned, the city was cleaner, and it became safe again; quite a spectacular place to live.
One of the mayor's first acts was to instruct the police to be pro-active, especially in the worst neighborhoods. They were encouraged to stop and question anyone who acted suspiciously. The police would show up before trouble started and engage with all kinds of people, showing real interest and concern. It worked like a magic charm.
There goes the pacifist argument; that being nice, friendly, and generous will bring nice, friendly, and generous people to us. As a famous radical - Leon Trotsky - once said, "You may not be interested in war, but war is very interested in you."
"Why?", you may ask. Because you have property which others want; money, cars, a house, your children, and maybe your life. If you look vulnerable and weak, certain people will take it from you and won't give it back. Nations go to war mostly to seize property from others and raise their status. They disguise their acts with fake political fig leaves. It's global criminality, and much worse than we think. Very few nations and peoples acknowledge the LORD in an meaningful degree, and they try to elevate their leaders as gods.
This is an attack on God and all His creation.
How can we protect ourselves? At this point the next question is a moral one, because some of the most admired people on earth were, and are, pacifists and martyrs. But martyrdom is a calling, and not for everyone. Curiously, Jesus said to His disciples, "Do not assume that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword... to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother... A man's enemies will be the members of his own household... " (Luke 12: 42-53).
"Watch, I'm sending you out into the world as sheep before wolves. So be as cunning as serpents and as gentle as doves." (Matt. 10:16).
He also said of the time to come, "The Son of Man will send out His angels... and they will weed out all who cause sin and practice lawlessness... and they will throw them into the fiery furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth..." (Matt 13:41-42).
Christ's message of ultimate love and generosity was pure, as He was pure. Jesus was, "...The lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world...." (John 1:29).
His mission in life besides healing and teaching was to be a blood sacrifice. Very few of us can say it's our mission to do likewise. There are many other paths to God from this life.
The seriousness of crime defines and demands active law enforcement. Pacifism in the face of high crimes destroys civilization, and is destroying us now. Jesus also praised the faithful Roman centurion who asked him to heal his servant (Matthew 8:5-13). Soldiers, police, judges and jailers can be faithful Christians. They must be for it all to work.
Here is wisdom:
"To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under Heaven... a time to be born and a time to die... a time for love and a time for hate... a time for war and a time for peace." (Ecclesiastes 3)
Wisdom is not a friend to the modern world, which never ceases calling foolishness a virtue. Who ignores the wisdom of the ages will walk over a cliff and believe they're flying like a bird.
UPDATE, 11/19: A concerned 17 year-old American citizen who decided not to be a pacifist and instead used his Constitutional right to bear arms has just won a huge battle in a Wisconsin state criminal court. The consequences of his courageous actions mark a hopeful turning point in U.S. history.
If he had lost his case, the future of the United States would be much darker than it is now. He's shown himself to be a model and an inspiration for many men and women in the future.
Kyle Rittenhouse was found not guilty on all charges - including murder - for his acts on the night of August 25, 2021, in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Rittenhouse, an Emergency Medical Tech, was attacked by about a dozen men and defended himself legally with a rifle, killing two and wounding another; men with long criminal records.
On the night of the 25th, Antifa, Black Lives Matter, and other anarchist groups rioted, burned cars and property, occupied houses illegally, and assaulted citizens and observers. Many were hospitalized. The property damages on this night, and the following days, was over $2,000,000.
Wisconsin state authorities, and others, declined to prosecute Rittenhouse because video tape and audio recordings from many angles revealed that his was a clear case of self-defense. He's a Caucasian, and so were all his supposed victims.
But the Kenosha DA, against the advice of legal experts, charged Rittenhouse with a stack of felonies that would put him in jail for life. He faced seven counts altogether, two for murder, one for attempted murder, and four others for reckless endangerment and illegal possession of a firearm.
The jury, the public at large, and lifelong criminal law experts from academia and the judiciary watched for months as the case against Rittenhouse collapsed into a contrary and confused mush.
Kyle Rittenhouse now has a personal injury lawsuit of epic proportions against the American media, politicians, and even the U.S. president, who used him as a straw man and punching bag in the 2020 election primaries. Kyle will likely receive hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation for being maliciously libeled, slandered, and defamed, globally, for more than a year.
