I knew someone would pick up on this... I would never knowingly take someone's life in self defense or defense of my family for a couple reasons. First, I can usually restrain someone with non-lethal force.(Just about the only bonus of being 5'10" and 260 pounds) The second reason is of a spiritual nature; I know my family is taken care of. For me it is like this. Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to stand by and watch every harm come their way. That would be just dumb. I've actually had this conversation with my wife and we both agreed on it. For us, losing our lives here on earth is not a big thing because of the eternal life we have. It's pretty liberating living without that fear of death. (Mind you, I still won't skydive!) That's us though. Everybody is different. But I do believe that is not the real issue here. I agree with just about everyone on this list that we shouldn't eliminate anything and everything that might be a trigger for pro-criminal behaviour from an otherwise generally sane society. (Yes, I realize that's a very general blanket statement and as such is very faulty.) I'd love to see the billion dollars that Canada is spending on gun control put into pro-social programs such as poverty reduction, skills training, mental health, breakfast programs, etc. I'd love to see the police officers that are confined to desks administering so much paperwork on these registrations, out on the street actually removing weapons from criminals and educating youth and others. (Funny but sad anecdote - I knew someone as a teenager that suffered from severe depression and was contemplating suicide. He went to the mental health unit, said that he was very depressed and contemplating suicide and wanted to talk with someone. The receptionist said they'd call back with an appointment. That call came six months later. Fortunately, that person had some good friends that rallied around him to support him. But what if he didn't?) But as long as we continue to treat the symptoms of the ails of society the underlying problem remains; the breakdown of the fundamental unit of society - the family. And, Gel, your right I did miss the point that you were making. Sorry, my bad. Guy www.guymcdowell.com Date: Mon, 07 May 2001 10:14:22 -0400 From: "Todd Ashworth" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Violent education Message-ID: <007f01c0d700$040bade0$4f52a83f@polekat> | As an anecdotal evidence; I know how to handle | fire-arms of many kinds yet I do not own any and would | never knowingly take a human life, not even in self | defense or defense of family. Huh? Now I have just as much respect for life as the next person, maybe even more so than many (how many of you big meanies squash ants and spiders and stuff? >=-p), but I'm sorry .. If I thought that either myself or someone else was threatened, I would act accordingly. That self preservation instinct can be a powerful motivator. That doesn't mean I would *want* to kill someone, but, in a way, why should I have respect for their life if the don't have any for mine? Todd ----- As every Jedi knows .. Sith happens! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Structure your ColdFusion code with Fusebox. Get the official book at http://www.fusionauthority.com/bkinfo.cfm Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/cf-community@houseoffusion.com/ Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/index.cfm?sidebar=lists
