It is never right to take vengeance. Even when a nation takes military action, that action should not be for vengeance, but to protect oneself, or to execute justice, or to protect the innocence. A private individual does not have the right to take vengeance, no matter how aggrieved they may feel. The slaying of the policemen in New York is both a tragedy and a heinous crime. It appears that the killer was mentally ill, which is a relief. At least there appears to be no organized conspiracy to slay policemen. Sadly, it is almost impossible to guard against the “lone wolf” type of killer, particularly if there is no rational basis for their insane action.
Even police chiefs have stated that they have no problems with peaceful demonstrations that follow the rules. Freedom of expression is part of our heritage as Americans. But, there is a vast difference between a peaceful demonstration and armed resistance. Even the Declaration of Independence sets armed resistance as something that needs to be carefully justified and should not be used unless there have first been petitions, appeals, etc., to the appropriate authorities. Read the Declaration of Independence carefully and you will see that armed resistance is not something to be generally advocated, but only a measure of absolute last resort, and even then it should be a communal action, not an individual action.
Thus, the acts of a “lone wolf” cannot be justified, either from Scripture or from any appeal to the Declaration of Independence. The act of a “lone wolf” is nothing more than a criminal offense, and should never be regarded as anything but a criminal offense. In this case, it appears to be the act of a dangerously mentally ill person.
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p align=”justify”>My condolences to the families who lost two loved ones.
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