Sep 03 2008
‘Self Defense Justifiable?’
In my last post I used the self defense principle as a justifcation for martial arts.But thinking about it I ran into a wall. The premise of being able to violate another’s rights if they attempt to violate yours is a silly one. At least in terms of our societies moral standards it seems.
‘Two wrongs don’t make a right.’ If this is true, than how is hurting someone who is hurting you any better? If the action is immoral to hurt another wouldn’t the fact of the person attacking you equate to that of you defending yourself. The most I feel I can say is that self defense is fitting, as the attacker gets what they attempt to have given.
Two wrongs, two victims.
I’m curious as to how you, my readers, feel about this? Is it ok to hurt another in order to defend yourself? If so how would you justify it, or rather how is it unjustifiable?
What do you think?
6 Responses to “‘Self Defense Justifiable?’”
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I agree with the two wrongs, two victims statement. It seems absurd to me that anyone could start a fight believing that they would not get hurt at all. Often, even in martial arts training, the reality of getting hit during a fight is over looked, usually you are just taught to hit the other person or block the attack, which is quite difficult to do 100% of the time regardless of how good you are. Generally, I believe that if you don’t want to get hit you shouldn’t start a fight, however, if you are attacked you should remind the attacker why they are fighting. Pain can be a very powerful sobering agent and it tests our determination and will.
Well, what do you want to teach the attacker by fighting with him? That next time he has to find sb who is weaker than you and that he should pick just on those who can not defense themselves?
Jesus approach is interesting. You know, “but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.” I believe you can teach other people just by doing something that will surprise them, that will make them think and that they’ve never experience before. It is normal to defense when sb attacks you. Attacker knows that. It is something unusual to show that you are over physical reactions and that violence can not resolve any problems…
I like what Dorothy says. Leading by example is really the best and truest way to teach something. “Defense” in any case I think is wrong. Defending means resisting, resistance creates conflict and traps you within your ego. This is a concept i have just been reading about so don’t fully practice it yet, but it seems to make sense.
There is a story of a Zen Master who was revered across the land. People came from far and wide to hear his teachings and recieve spiritual guidance. He lived beside family with a 17 year old daughter, who became pregnant. The family was furious with her and demanded to know who the father was. She confessed it was the Zen Master next door. The parents were furious and went straight to the Master’s door and began screaming and shouting, hurling curses at him and berating him for what he had done. His only response was, “Is that so?” When the baby was born, the parents took it to the Zen Master and demanded he take care of the child as it was his, “Is that so?” is all he replied as he took the child in. A year passed and he nourished, tended to and took care of the child. His fame decreased almost instantly and his reputation was tarnished. Nobody came to him for his guidance anymore. Finally out of guilt, the daughter confessed to the parents that the Zen Master was not the father. The parents went to the Zen Master and told him what happened and took the child back, begging his forgiveness and apologizing profusely. “Is that so?” Is all he replied, handing the child back to its grandparents.
Think for a minute how an ego-bound person would react to that situation. The Zen Master was at one with every moment, fully accepting of and in complete non-resistance with what Is. He took each moment for what it was, rather than seeing it as something to react to. So in the case of self defense, if somebody says, “I’m gonna kick your ass,” perhaps “Is that so” is not the right answer haha, but by being present and in a place of nonresistance (which will usually not bring you across the paths of an aggressor where you would have to defend yourself) you would accept the fact that this person wants violence and you may be hurt, but reacting to the situation would only serve to perpetuate negativity rather than promote positivity. If you simply don’t resist and remain present and positive, odds are they will get tired of you or maybe not even start if you aren’t going to fight back.
This may be a very un-P.C. thing to say, but at this time, there are too many people in the world to worry about hurting someone who’s hurting you. Go ahead and break their face.
Those who rob you for drug-money, those who discard their friends when they stop being cool, those who scam and hurt anyone around them to enhance their own lives, those people can all die for all I care. I have good friends that deserve a world without THOSE.
Then again, I work with a guy who has very negative outlooks on anyone he doesn’t know, and he’s not very social to begin with, so maybe that negativity is rubbing off on me somewhat.
“Is it ok to hurt another in order to defend yourself?”
According to me, yes. As even Shakespeare said “there is nothing either right or wrong, but thinking makes it so.” Whether or not something is “ok” depends on the opinion(s) of the one(s) judging.
“If so how would you justify it?”
I care little for justification. But if forced to give one, it would be nothing other than “because I wanted to.”