Is violence really the answer?

Another person who helped civilisation, by helping white people and black people become one, was Martin Luther King. He showed that everybody is equal no matter how different they look. He didn’t arrange a big army of black people to kill a population of white people did he? No, in fact it was the very opposite.  He preached a peaceful message. He joined black people in freedom marches. He led a bus boycott. Because of this he was sent to jail and his house was bombed. The Montgomery boycott was a clear victory for non- violent protest. “This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” (A quote from the Martin Luther King speech ’I have a dream’) He did succeed but was assassinated very violently by a white man on April 4th 1968. Even though he was murdered he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. Everybody will use violence for no reason at some point in his or her life. You should stop to think, is it necessary for me to abuse this person? Is there any other way to solve the problem? You never know but you could be thanked for it some day.

On the other hand some Christians believe that violence is acceptable in some situations. If you were ever in a situation and a person started to sexually assault you, your first instinct would be for you to get them to stop. The only reasonable way would be to use extreme force or violence. A person who is bigger and heavier than you isn’t going to stop assaulting you if you ask them politely. They would think that you were weak and would carry on. If a person came up behind you carrying a dangerous weapon and they were going to attack you, you would have to use violence to restrain them. If you didn’t then your life could be at risk, or you could be seriously injured.

It would still apply if you saw someone being attacked by another person. What kind of person would you be if you just walked pass? It would only be practical if you helped them and sometimes the only response is violence. You would use violence to defend others against terrorist attacks. You would want to preserve the innocent and punish the guilty. Most people, I’m sure, would agree with the statement ‘an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.’ If you had been chosen to fight in a war you would have to use violence to protect your self from being killed and your country from dictators like Hitler. Dietrich Bonhoffer changed his views and joined the plot to murder Hitler.

I think that violence is expectable in some cases. I believe that it isn’t right to abuse somebody just because you don’t like him or her. How would you feel if it were you? Sometimes you need to put your self in the position of someone else. I know that if I were being assaulted I would immediately attempt to get them off me. Also I know that if I was face to face with somebody I didn’t like and they offered to fight me I would do the sensible thing and walk away. It would probably bother that other people would say that I was a wimp but I would know deep down that I would have done the right thing and I would be the mature one and not the other person.