Violence
“Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?” Matthew 26:52-54 (ESV)
Violence is physical force applied for unethical reasons such as aggression, abuse or exploitation. Its ethical opposite is self-defense or defense of another.
Virtually all moral codes forbid violence.
Most countries have laws against violence, although some governments habitually employ violence against their own citizenry. International legislation on human rights is meant to prevent this, but has proved difficult to enforce in practice.
Some people believe that atheists have no moral code forbidding violence. This is not borne out by the facts.
- Excessive violence is associated with other forms of social pathology. [1]
Violence as a Sin
In Christian thought, violence can include any sin that is malicious, but does not use the human intellect. As well as direct physical violence, Dante's Inferno categorizes tyranny, suicide, self-harm, blasphemy, usury and homosexuality as forms of violence. The last three are considered the most serious forms, as the violence is directed against God or nature.
Speech as violence
In recent years, left wing polemicists have expanded the above definition to include saying words that the listener does not want to hear. So, if a Wake Forest law professor reads aloud a Supreme Court decision that contains a racial slur, students will contact the Dean to complain that the law professor committed "an act of violence" against them.[1]
In August 2020, a business USC professor who is fluent in Mandarin explained to his class that native-speakers say the word "nèi ge" repeatedly just as English speakers say um or er. Some members of the class complained to the Dean that he was using a racial slur causing them great pain. He was suspended from teaching.[2][3]
See also
Atheism and violence:
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- ↑ "Wake Forest Reprimands Law Prof for Reading Racial Slur in Famous Supreme Court Opinion", Brietbart, March 31, 2020. Retrieved on 2020-09-09.
- ↑ "Controversy over USC professor’s use of Chinese word that sounds like racial slur in English", Los Angeles Times, September 5, 2020. Retrieved on 2020-09-09.
- ↑ Letter from USC Marshall School of Business Alumni About the "Neige" / Prof. Greg Patton Controversy (Sept. 7, 2020). Retrieved on 2020-09-09.
