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> He says he bears no ill-will towards the islanders and feels he has forgiven those he believes wronged him. Good for him, this is spiritually healthy. But if

> He says he bears no ill-will towards the islanders and feels he has forgiven those he believes wronged him. Good for him, this is spiritually healthy. But if this happened to me, and I knew exactly who it was, and justice would fail me, I'm pretty certain I'd choose a very different path.

kleiba 5y ago
I don't think you have to be a Christian to subscribe to the thought that the idea of "turning the other cheek" - as unintuitive as it may seem - is more healthy in the long run than "an eye for an eye".
- robbedpeter 5y ago
  That's becoming harder to see, it seems. Liberal, democratic governments are supposed to maintain our various social contracts by dint of a granted monopoly on the use of violence or force. Laws and justice systems are there as tools for governments to exercise justified and escalating force to elicit compliance with social contracts, e.g. social order. When enforcement fails, the social contract is broken, and an individual may find that they are left with no better course of action than to exercise the force that was inappropriately withheld. This guy could be justified in disappearing those who disappeared his house, if left with no better recourse and his property remains under threat. Basic tit for tat game theory overrides morality when social order breaks down.
  - Yoric 5y ago
    > This guy could be justified in disappearing those who disappeared his house, if left with no better recourse and his property remains under threat. Basic tit for tat game theory overrides morality when social order breaks down. Disappearing their house, surely? Not them personally.
  - ZanyProgrammer 5y ago
    You act like this is the first time you’ve heard of a crime taking place and the authorities are unable to prosecute the offenders. It’s not the decline of private property rights and the end of modern western civilization.
  - rsynnott 5y ago
    It’s a small island. Those have always been beyond the pale; it’s not like there was ever a golden age of effective law enforcement on small remote islands. And no, murder is not an appropriate response to someone demolishing a house, bloody hell.
  - MrBuddyCasino 5y ago
    I do not understand why people downvoted this. Its the correct approach - giving the monopoly on violence to the state depends upon the state doing its job well.
- Maursault 5y ago
  > I don't think you have to be a Christian to subscribe to the thought that the idea of "turning the other cheek" ... The concept, phrase and idiom has its origin in the Sermon on the Mount in Chapter 5 of the Gospel of Matthew, a sermon ostensibly given by a Cynic and rebel Jew between 28AD-33AD, neatly proving your suspicion correct.

kleiba 5y ago

I don't think you have to be a Christian to subscribe to the thought that the idea of "turning the other cheek" - as unintuitive as it may seem - is more healthy in the long run than "an eye for an eye".

robbedpeter 5y ago
That's becoming harder to see, it seems. Liberal, democratic governments are supposed to maintain our various social contracts by dint of a granted monopoly on the use of violence or force. Laws and justice systems are there as tools for governments to exercise justified and escalating force to elicit compliance with social contracts, e.g. social order. When enforcement fails, the social contract is broken, and an individual may find that they are left with no better course of action than to exercise the force that was inappropriately withheld. This guy could be justified in disappearing those who disappeared his house, if left with no better recourse and his property remains under threat. Basic tit for tat game theory overrides morality when social order breaks down.
- Yoric 5y ago
  > This guy could be justified in disappearing those who disappeared his house, if left with no better recourse and his property remains under threat. Basic tit for tat game theory overrides morality when social order breaks down. Disappearing their house, surely? Not them personally.
- ZanyProgrammer 5y ago
  You act like this is the first time you’ve heard of a crime taking place and the authorities are unable to prosecute the offenders. It’s not the decline of private property rights and the end of modern western civilization.
- rsynnott 5y ago
  It’s a small island. Those have always been beyond the pale; it’s not like there was ever a golden age of effective law enforcement on small remote islands. And no, murder is not an appropriate response to someone demolishing a house, bloody hell.
- MrBuddyCasino 5y ago
  I do not understand why people downvoted this. Its the correct approach - giving the monopoly on violence to the state depends upon the state doing its job well.
Maursault 5y ago
> I don't think you have to be a Christian to subscribe to the thought that the idea of "turning the other cheek" ... The concept, phrase and idiom has its origin in the Sermon on the Mount in Chapter 5 of the Gospel of Matthew, a sermon ostensibly given by a Cynic and rebel Jew between 28AD-33AD, neatly proving your suspicion correct.