ted - You misinterpreted my original comment and told me I needed an enema. I know what I meant, but I can't be bothered to explain it to you. In closing, nobody wins an argument on the internet. So blow it out your ear.
For those who advocate unfettered vigilantism: fear of reprisal is a deterrance to crime, but not the only one. The most effective deterrent is empathy: the ability to identify with another human being.
This form of deterrence does not start with the criminal, but must be imbedded in the fabric of society. Where there are too many walls - black|white, rich|poor, red state|blue state, us|them - a siege mentality is the default mindset. How can you love your neighbour when you don't even know them? How can you know them when you reduce them to an abstract distillate of their observable behaviours?
Protect your loved ones by all means. Protect your property, at any cost? What would Jesus do? I don't expect any of us can realistically measure up to that standard, but we can at least be mindful of it.
I'm a Canadian and, from reading some of the comments here, I feel like I'm eavesdropping on another planet. Maybe that's just the nature of anonymous internet commentary; I have to believe that all of this "justifiable homicide" talk is not representative of the average American.
This form of deterrence does not start with the criminal, but must be imbedded in the fabric of society. Where there are too many walls - black|white, rich|poor, red state|blue state, us|them - a siege mentality is the default mindset. How can you love your neighbour when you don't even know them? How can you know them when you reduce them to an abstract distillate of their observable behaviours?
Protect your loved ones by all means. Protect your property, at any cost? What would Jesus do? I don't expect any of us can realistically measure up to that standard, but we can at least be mindful of it.
Speaking of which: Happy 4th to all.