Are you a lover or a killer, or both?
They are only words, but I’d never put them together that way.
Are you a killer?
If you asked most of us, we’d say we couldn’t hurt anyone.
“Oh, I would never do that.”
…but then we look a little deeper.
We say we couldn’t hurt anyone, but is that true? I have to ask because you also say you love your family. You say you love your children. Do you love them enough to defend them, or is your love only soft words and sweet feelings?
Oh, you meant that kind of love. Well, now that I think about it…
Yeah, that kind of love. Do you love your family enough to stop someone who is hurting them? If you’ll protect the people you love, then you love enough to kill.
What? I love enough to kill. Wow.
Yeah. It’s shocking.
Now don’t get me wrong. I don’t want to hurt anyone, and neither do you. But do you see what I mean? Unless you teach the use of lethal force, then you probably don’t ask yourself if you’d kill to protect your family. You only use enough force to defend the innocent, but that realization makes a huge difference in our behavior. Don’t believe me, then answer for yourself.
What would I do to protect the people I love?
Well, what are your options?
I… I couldn’t kill someone attacking my children.
Is that a feeling, or is that a moral decision you reached after careful consideration? You are the expert about what you can and should do, not me.
It isn’t an easy question. Love means you’ll do uncomfortable things. Ask any parent who cleaned a diaper or corrected a child.
You already guard your children’s health in all kinds of ways. You protect them from danger and teach them how to avoid dangerous situations as they grow. You do it every day.
You also guard their character. You teach them not to lie, and to avoid liars. Thank you.
You protect your loved ones from discomfort. You also protect them from physical harm. You probably look in on your kids as you go to bed, and you lock the doors to your house before you turn in for the night. You are a guardian.
You already do a lot, so let me say thank you. Thank you for all the ways you protect the people you love.
Because I study self-defense, I research when, where, and how people are attacked. Will your family ever be threatened? I don’t know. I do know that it happens to thousands of people just like us every day. Are you depending on luck or are you prepared? Now that I don’t know, but you do.
Because I’ve studied it, I know that you have a right to defend yourself. You have a duty to protect the innocent people who depend on you. What will you do?
Here is something else I learned. You won’t be able to protect the people you love unless you think about it ahead of time. You need a plan when there is no time to think. Everybody does. That is why I’m asking you to think about these uncomfortable questions now, rather than later.
Do your loved ones deserve protection from harm? Who will be their shield until help arrives? What tools and training are required to stop likely threats?
The answers are out there, but you have to ask the questions first.
~_~_
I gave you something to think about and 600 words. Please leave your answers in the comment section.
Rob Morse, author at Self-Defense Gun Stories
The original article is here.
Image: CCO Creative Commons; Excerpted from: https://pixabay.com/en/thinking-thinking-work-man-face-272677/
