Using Violence

Can violence ever be a necessary tool to achieve a desired consequence?

Yesterday a would-be robber was shot four times by a security guard during an attempted cash-in-transit robbery. A witness phoned a radio talk show and described how the security guards then kicked and pushed the wounded robber, who was lying on the ground screaming in pain. Now this witness may, or may not be right. The thing that I found disturbing was the reaction inside of myself.

Because I know the ethical theory: that even the crooks have civil rights; and that when we treat a person inhumanely we lose our humanity; and that abusing the abuser makes me abusive. I am, after all, a convinced pacifist

But my first reaction was “Serves him right”. And the multitude of SMS messages and phone-in callers agreed. Some went as far as wishing that he had been shot more times, or that he had been shot in the head, or that the ‘bleeding-heart’ witness should get in touch with reality. And I understood all of this.

Because I am afraid of being the next victim.
And this has changed my behaviour:
I no longer walk on Table Mountain, because people are being mugged on the mountain
I look carefully in the car’s mirrors when I approach my home, because people in my area are being attacked in their driveways.
I do not like entering public toilets on my own, because it is a place where people are robbed.
And so I found a place in my pacifist heart that understood exactly why those security guards, and all those radio listeners, wanted to use violence on the robber.

Pray for our country – that we can find ways of retaining our humanity without being tempted to rejoice in violence.