The conduct of Charlie Kirk before his assassination, and the likes of Israel and Maria Folau, give us a good idea of how we should respond to the increasing challenges in society.
Well argued Simon. Sticks & stones is indeed a great adage, one that should be enshrined in all sectors of education. Words may be hurtful, but they are never 'violent' per se. Shooting someone with a rifle is violent. Being assertive with one's beliefs is not.
The line with so-called 'hate speech' has shifted too far. The UK is a disaster. Cops turning up at people's houses because they may have upset someone with an online post. We need to ensure we don't go there. Section 4 of the Summary Offences Act (subpart b here) "in any public place, addresses any words to any person intending to threaten, alarm, insult, or offend that person;" means if you are deemed as intending to offend you can be charged. This is a line too far imho. The line should be if your speech incites or is likely to incite violence or unlawful actions against another. I have been insulted so many times in my life because of my religious & political views, but who gives a shit? Not me. Best response is to say 'fuck the haters' and carry on, they are the losers and thus we are back to sticks & stones.
The 'right response' is according to context, the situation you are in!
Jesus went from loving, empathetic to staunch, even hostile depending upon who he was dealing with! The 'whited sepulchre hypocrites', to 'get behind me Satan', & 'overturning the tables of the money lenders & making a whip', to telling his disciples to get hold of some swords!?
We can't be milk toast, turning the other cheek whilst dealing with some of these rabid people!
If people are prepared to debate respectfully, not a problem, however the likes of Antifa & the LGBTQ antics of Albert Park/Posey Parker required police action, but in this instance NOT forthcoming!
So we have seen a 'two tier policing system' emerging in the West, which has been somewhat moderated recently with the influence of President Trump & Elon Musk's 'X', but NOT so in the UK! Get the wrong government back in, & that 'despot spirit' will come back with 'seven more evil spirits' to invade the swept house'!
So it depends! The American colonialists decided not to put up with their British overlords & they had a revolutionary war! That was the 'right response' for them at that time! Note: 'The Declaration of Independence'!
We had WW 1 & 2 to push back tyranny!
Evil doesn't go away just because we are polite!
History has shown that!
Evil is an active agent like yeast, working to inflate & conflagrate whatever it can to foment conflict, division & violence! That is what we are truly dealing with! Around the edges are some debates, but that largely is window dressing!
Evil has its agenda, & is couching at the the door, & we must master it!
How did David deal with Goliath? 1 Sam 17:45-54
The bible is littered with this or that war, battle, conflict!
The 'truth' can set us free, but only if we LIVE it!
When we reform culture, Mt 28:18-20, then we will be able to control & dominate the inclination & proclivity of fallen man to DO EVIL!
“Weapons of war” is what our ex leader told the audience at Harvard (?) ..,but the words she was talking about weren’t hate they were truth! These ideologies are being pushed on us for sinister reasons in my humble opinion.
Well argued Simon. Sticks & stones is indeed a great adage, one that should be enshrined in all sectors of education. Words may be hurtful, but they are never 'violent' per se. Shooting someone with a rifle is violent. Being assertive with one's beliefs is not.
The line with so-called 'hate speech' has shifted too far. The UK is a disaster. Cops turning up at people's houses because they may have upset someone with an online post. We need to ensure we don't go there. Section 4 of the Summary Offences Act (subpart b here) "in any public place, addresses any words to any person intending to threaten, alarm, insult, or offend that person;" means if you are deemed as intending to offend you can be charged. This is a line too far imho. The line should be if your speech incites or is likely to incite violence or unlawful actions against another. I have been insulted so many times in my life because of my religious & political views, but who gives a shit? Not me. Best response is to say 'fuck the haters' and carry on, they are the losers and thus we are back to sticks & stones.
Simon, I really enjoyed this informative and revealing article.
Thanks Bruce. I enjoyed writing it.
The 'right response' is according to context, the situation you are in!
Jesus went from loving, empathetic to staunch, even hostile depending upon who he was dealing with! The 'whited sepulchre hypocrites', to 'get behind me Satan', & 'overturning the tables of the money lenders & making a whip', to telling his disciples to get hold of some swords!?
We can't be milk toast, turning the other cheek whilst dealing with some of these rabid people!
If people are prepared to debate respectfully, not a problem, however the likes of Antifa & the LGBTQ antics of Albert Park/Posey Parker required police action, but in this instance NOT forthcoming!
So we have seen a 'two tier policing system' emerging in the West, which has been somewhat moderated recently with the influence of President Trump & Elon Musk's 'X', but NOT so in the UK! Get the wrong government back in, & that 'despot spirit' will come back with 'seven more evil spirits' to invade the swept house'!
So it depends! The American colonialists decided not to put up with their British overlords & they had a revolutionary war! That was the 'right response' for them at that time! Note: 'The Declaration of Independence'!
We had WW 1 & 2 to push back tyranny!
Evil doesn't go away just because we are polite!
History has shown that!
Evil is an active agent like yeast, working to inflate & conflagrate whatever it can to foment conflict, division & violence! That is what we are truly dealing with! Around the edges are some debates, but that largely is window dressing!
Evil has its agenda, & is couching at the the door, & we must master it!
How did David deal with Goliath? 1 Sam 17:45-54
The bible is littered with this or that war, battle, conflict!
The 'truth' can set us free, but only if we LIVE it!
When we reform culture, Mt 28:18-20, then we will be able to control & dominate the inclination & proclivity of fallen man to DO EVIL!
“Weapons of war” is what our ex leader told the audience at Harvard (?) ..,but the words she was talking about weren’t hate they were truth! These ideologies are being pushed on us for sinister reasons in my humble opinion.
Thanks Simon, for your good work.🙏