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#Post#: 27746--------------------------------------------------
Guns in the USA
By: Kerry Date: April 22, 2021, 11:54 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
So what is about the USA that produces gun violence? The
number of mass shootings astounds me. Someone gets annoyed by
life -- but how does getting a gun and shooting lots of people
help the situation? Some of the shooters seem to strike out
at random, wanting to kill people without even knowing whom
they're killing.
And what is it about the USA that the police shoot to kill so
often? I think there are times when lethal force is justified,
but American cops seem to kill people they could have stopped if
they had shot to wound. In some situations, talking might have
solved the problem.
Is there anything Christians can do to help solve the problem?
Or is praying all we can do?
#Post#: 27747--------------------------------------------------
Re: Guns in the USA
By: Rita Date: April 23, 2021, 1:23 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Hi Kerry,
Coming from a country that doesn’t have guns available to
everyone I must admit I find it sad to hear of so many shootings
in the USA. We have had mass shootings in the past , but then
the laws were changed with regards to certain guns being
available.
Many argue that it is not the guns but the people , but the fact
that someone can just buy a gun so easily and use it when they
react or get mad must play a part in the problem. I don’t
understand how or why someone can just feel okay about killing
loads of people without having any conscience that it’s not
right.
The police situation, think that is down to training with
regards to handling difficult situations. I mean the young boy
that died, and the girl with he knife that was shot dead there
simply was no need. The boy had his hands in he air and the girl
was attacking another girl, but why not shoot at the legs (
which would stop the attack without fatality )
The mass shooting are often planned, so you can’t put that down
to instant reactions. I still don’t know why automatic weapons
are needed , so personally I think they should be banned.
However Americans seem to think that their freedom is being
taken away from them if the laws are changed. With the police
situation, more training from the army on how to react in
situations perhaps would solve that problem.
Many Christians have guns, many are pro guns , so if they don’t
take responsibility for change why should anyone else.
Maybe many feel it is their sense of security, which means they
are reliant on a gun for protection. Considering many Christians
who are pro guns are having a dig at people getting vaccinated
because of fear should consider their own attitudes and reliance
on worldly things to protect. ........
It’s attitudes that need to change and that requires a change
within, so prayer for inward change and an openness to respond
inwardly and consider why guns are relied on.
Maybe I don’t have a right to an opinion because it’s not my
experience to own a gun xx
Rita
#Post#: 27748--------------------------------------------------
Re: Guns in the USA
By: HOLLAND Date: April 23, 2021, 6:19 am
---------------------------------------------------------
I got the announcement on this, Kerry. It's an interesting new
system.
[quote author=Kerry link=topic=1491.msg27746#msg27746
date=1619153669]
So what is about the USA that produces gun violence? The
number of mass shootings astounds me.[/quote]
I think that the answer is logical. There are too many people
who have guns that shouldn't have guns. They are not
responsible or lawful gun owners.
[quote]Someone gets annoyed by life -- but how does getting a
gun and shooting lots of people help the situation? Some of
the shooters seem to strike out at random, wanting to kill
people without even knowing whom they're killing.[/quote]
I identify that with scapegoating, making others responsible or
having to pay the penalty for the grief that one feels.
Scapegoating is akin to racism, I think, and it is endemic
within a society that tolerates that racism.
[quote]And what is it about the USA that the police shoot to
kill so often?[/quote]
It is a lack of police training or, in many departments, a
conscious decision to violate that training for various social
reasons, including homophobia, racism and hostility to the news
media.
[quote]I think there are times when lethal force is justified,
but American cops seem to kill people they could have stopped if
they had shot to wound. In some situations, talking might have
solved the problem.[/quote]
Standard police training always specified that lethal force was
justified if the officer or a bystander was immediately
threatened by lethal force from a suspect. A police officer,
like any citizen who employs a weapon, must legally justify
every shot that is fired. Regrettably, these rules have been
relaxed over the years, now allowing police to shoot people in
the back instead of chasing them down as was required in former
days. In a sense, many police departments are allowing police
murder.
The right to murder is now being extended to other citizens.
Various Republican governors are seeking to relax laws in
respect to armed citizens shooting unarmed citizens, and
allowing vehicular homicide, allowing citizens to injure or run
over other citizens, if the offending other citizens are defined
as "a mob" or as "protestors".
The ethos for murder has been brought into our culture, and guns
are a symptom of it.
[quote]Is there anything Christians can do to help solve the
problem? Or is praying all we can do?
[/quote]
We must pray about this, but we must also proclaim the gospel
and say that Jesus is the only scapegoat, or more properly, a
sacrificial lamb, the only sacrificial one, and that he has died
for us; and that no one else has to die out of our anger and
frustration about other people. We must love one another as we
wish others to love us. Jesus is the model of this love. He
was patient and kind to others. We must also be aware that
Jesus was also firm against those who turned the temple, a house
of prayer, into a den of thieves. He pronounced his judgement
against those that have turned religious devotion into thievery,
something used to maximize worldly power and profit.
Since worldliness is based so often upon thievery, it is
supported by violence, which, in turn, means guns. As Jesus
said that those who live by the sword must die by the sword, so
it must be expected that in a society where there are many guns,
lethal violence is to be expected. With many guns must come
serious social tumults and disorders.
The solution to the gun issue goes back to the Constitutional
nature of the right itself. If the whole body of the people is
the militia, the government may have the right to regulate that
very same militia. In other words, the government may demand
that all military-style weapons must be stored in armories, such
as citizens have in Britain.
If Americans reject this solution, they could follow Karl Marx
concerning weapons. He advocated the arming of the proletariat.
Marx preferred the Swiss model, where most citizens are trained
at arms. The Swiss require that all weapons, including military
class weapons must be stored at home and accept the heavy
regulations involving them to prevent their misuse and illegal
use. That is an effective solution. There is little gun crime
in Switzerland. Of course, there is little poverty and social
thievery by those in power.
Marx, of course, didn't think that a society which allows some
citizens to debase other citizens (such as in racism or
homophobia) has much of a chance of survival. In the modern
parlance, we all survive together as a community, or we all die
together as tribes warring against each other. It is all very
simple. Guns and social hatred don't make at good mix.
We need to pray, love one another, and follow Jesus.
#Post#: 27749--------------------------------------------------
Re: Guns in the USA
By: coldwar Date: April 23, 2021, 8:49 am
---------------------------------------------------------
I think it's a lot of different factors at play - it's true that
when you compare gun violence in the USA compared with "similar"
western nations, it is hugely out of proportion. First, I put
"similar" in quotes for a reason - in terms of the form of
Government, there is no other nation that is governed similar to
the USA, and this last election showed all the flaws of the
government, how it gets chosen, how many variables by region
there are, and how badly electoral reform is needed, starting
with the fact that there is no "secret ballot" in the USA
elections. USA citizens are generally very fine people, and USA
institutions have contributed so much good to the rest of the
world, but on the other side, USA citizens are too close to all
the problems to see them clearly (like that old thing about a
group of blind men trying to describe an elephant. USA citizens
are educated as to how special you all are, but when someone
steps back to see the whole picture, that person is likely to
not like what they see - all the urban sprawl, social
inequality, etc - it must create a huge cognitive dissonance
that, if taken and internalized too far, will cause that person
to "crack" and want to lash out. So the first issue is a kind of
state-imposed mental illness that comes from so many seeing that
reality doesn't match what they were told as children. Next is
guns. Everybody is hotly aware of the rhetoric that comes from
the NRA, so I need not repeat it. Somehow, guns get equated with
liberty, end of story. I'm in Canada, and I once heard we have
per capita gun ownership that's greater than in the USA. But
we're a nation of hunters, and that's the main reason for gun
ownership here. And there are rules surrounding gun ownership -
just like car ownership that we all see as necessary, the same
applies to gun ownership. Pistols are banned completely, as are
fully automatic rifles. Semi-automatics are allowed, but the
clip limit is six rounds (I think). Application for ownership is
mandatory, as are background checks. Pre-owned guns are under
the same rules... so a lot of USA citizens would view all such
measures as "restrictions to our God-given freedoms". Rhetoric
like this suggests to me that the USA is foremost a hotbed for
bad religion. Which brings me to the next point. - something
about the dominant religion and culture in the USA isn't
right... and I can't comment as to what that might be, because,
even though I know it's true, I don't know how to define it.
It's not that Canada doesn't have our share of mass shootings. A
year ago, we had that madness with the guy who went around a
very sparsely populated rural area fully disguised as an RCMP
officer, including a full-replica car, of which he owned
several, killing 22 people. Otherwise, he was a successful
businessman (owner of a chain of Denture outlets). But he did
have a drinking problem, and also was distraught by what Covid
would do to his business, and so went on his crazy rampage with
his collection of RCMP weapons, clothing and vehicles. By the
way, even though such things are rare up here compared to the
USA, I am of the opinion that even though Canada, with it's
left-leaning government, tends to be "under-governed" when the
rubber hits the road. We have a lot of rules, and high taxes,
but very little actual enforcement. The night of the rampage,
real RCMP action was too sparse, and incompetent. Some might say
that's a good problem to have. But in the USA, can anybody
actually count the number of law-enforcement agencies you have?
To me, it's crazy. You talk about having "small government", but
on Main St. USA, the Policing must feel absolutely oppressive,
not only as the BLM issue, but to everybody. USA Citizens are
living in a police-state, while at the same time, are raised and
taught about the evils of a police-state. Again, cognitive
dissonance.
I hope I haven't offended anybody here. What can Christians do?
Well, first, stop viewing the USA as being "God's True Nation of
Milk and Honey" Also, stop thinking about the land of "the
pursuit of happiness". Happiness is not a right, it is very
elusive, and clearly, there are a lot of unhappy people in the
USA. Don't forget - "Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall
be comforted", and "it's harder for a rich man to enter heaven
than for a camel to pass through the needle's eye".
#Post#: 27752--------------------------------------------------
Re: Guns in the USA
By: paralambano Date: April 23, 2021, 1:26 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Mental illness with the ease of acquiring guns produces this
kind of violence in many cases whether it's a planned incident
or a temporary loss of reason. Unless it's something in the
water, madness can be reflective of what's occurring in society
to some degree.
Cops need better weapons training and more citizen oversight
into all processes. I forget where I saw it but some lady
journalist I think went into a cop academy and she said it was
like two weeks of sporadic gun training that she felt was hardly
adequate to put a weapon into the hands of a new cop.
Better psychological vetting is also needed - - cops put into a
wide variety of real-life simulations from their files and
others invented by experts.
It's hard to reach a national consensus by collective will in
the USA by the number of jurisdictions, states, pop size, and
interest groups, but not impossible. Christians can tell
sponsors and advertisers that the media should do its part by
showing success stories instead of constantly focusing on
breathless negatives, nationally and provincially.
Christians can demand of legislators that more resources be put
into mental health issues, police reform, and gun control.
States and jurisdictions that accomplish positive results ought
to be constantly heralded as role models with benefits shown by
capital investment, crime stats, etc..
Christians can continue to publicly decry the gratuitous,
desensitizing violence in what passes for entertainment in media
and sport. Some of it can lead to callousness, fear,
selfishness, and indifference in society.
Christians can stop being garish about Armageddon stuff which
can contribute to gratuitous anxiety, mistrust, and conspiracy
theories which could set groups of people against one another
and contribute to negativity and fear in unstable individuals.
Christian leaders ought to remain calm and rational for the sake
of their followers and society at large. Their followers should
follow their example and hold one another to account in a
reasonable manner.
Every segment of society has to have the will look at whether or
how it's contributing to people losing their minds this way
starting with families all the way up to government and find
ways to help diminish and prevent it.
I think that effective prayer is what's understood as already
what's come to pass in some or all of these ways and having it
manifest.
para . . . .
#Post#: 27754--------------------------------------------------
Re: Guns in the USA
By: Kerry Date: April 23, 2021, 7:30 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
I read all the responses. And thanks. I agreed with
everything said -- or at least I can't think of anything I
disagreed with. Things are getting clearer in my mind as I
reflect. I want to think some more about what was written
before responding.
#Post#: 27756--------------------------------------------------
Re: Guns in the USA
By: Rita Date: April 24, 2021, 12:03 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Kerry,
I mentioned in my response about the girl being killed, the one
with the knife. I was talking to my son yesterday, who has seen
the video. He believes that the cop was justified because she
was about to stab the other girl in the neck, the cop also had
shouted out warnings. I did wonder why he couldn’t have shot the
girls legs, but he said that it wouldn’t have stopped the girl
from what she was doing because there would have been a delay in
effect. I don’t know about guns, would that have been the same ?
I haven’t watched the video..........
The press is making out it was wrong, but maybe this shooting
wasn’t.
The cop saved the other girls life.
Rita
#Post#: 27763--------------------------------------------------
Re: Guns in the USA
By: Kerry Date: April 24, 2021, 6:06 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=Rita link=topic=1491.msg27756#msg27756
date=1619240589]
Kerry,
I mentioned in my response about the girl being killed, the one
with the knife. I was talking to my son yesterday, who has seen
the video. He believes that the cop was justified because she
was about to stab the other girl in the neck, the cop also had
shouted out warnings. I did wonder why he couldn’t have shot the
girls legs, but he said that it wouldn’t have stopped the girl
from what she was doing because there would have been a delay in
effect. I don’t know about guns, would that have been the same ?
I haven’t watched the video..........
The press is making out it was wrong, but maybe this shooting
wasn’t.
The cop saved the other girls life.
Rita
[/quote]He could have been thinking that. We cant be sure
anyone would have been stabbed and killed. The call to 911 said
someone had a knife. It had been going on for a while. I also
don't know how fast the police got there. Did he really need
to fire four times? Most people give up quickly if hit by a
bullet anywhere in their body. Aiming for a leg as you
suggested sounds right to me. The problem here may be that the
police get trained to shoot to kill, a lot more than to wound in
order to stop people. I don't know if the police are even
trained to shoot at legs or other parts of the body. Most
knife wounds aren't fatal, so I don't think shooting to kill was
justified; but this might not be the policeman's fault, it could
be what he was trained to do.
What was that girl doing in that house? She was in foster care.
The argument was reportedly over housekeeping. It was with
other girls or women who had been in foster care themselves at
that home. These people were said to argue all the time, so
why were they there early if they came to celebrate the birthday
of the foster care mother?
The adult, the foster care mother, was not at home at the time;
and the argument was over having the house neat and tidy when
she got home. We need to ask if that home was a safe home to
place a foster care child. It looks to me as if the girl would
have been in the house by herself if the other two former foster
children hadn't dropped in.
Then the real mother weighed in, saying her "beautiful baby" had
been taken from her. I believe (don't quote me) that the girl
was scheduled to return to her real mother in a week or so; but
her "baby" had already been taken from her. I don't know how or
why her daughter got put in foster care.
It looks to me as if many people failed this young girl. The
foster care system of this county may be more at fault than the
policeman.
#Post#: 27764--------------------------------------------------
Re: Guns in the USA
By: Kerry Date: April 24, 2021, 6:29 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=Rita link=topic=1491.msg27747#msg27747
date=1619158996]
Hi Kerry,
Coming from a country that doesn’t have guns available to
everyone I must admit I find it sad to hear of so many shootings
in the USA. We have had mass shootings in the past , but then
the laws were changed with regards to certain guns being
available.
Many argue that it is not the guns but the people , but the fact
that someone can just buy a gun so easily and use it when they
react or get mad must play a part in the problem. I don’t
understand how or why someone can just feel okay about killing
loads of people without having any conscience that it’s not
right. [/quote]
The argument that it's the people and not the guns? By that
kind of reasoning, we shouldn't care if Iran has nuclear bombs.
We shouldn't even care if terrorists in the USA bought uranium
and made crude dirty bombs.
[quote]The police situation, think that is down to training with
regards to handling difficult situations. I mean the young boy
that died, and the girl with he knife that was shot dead there
simply was no need. The boy had his hands in he air and the girl
was attacking another girl, but why not shoot at the legs (
which would stop the attack without fatality ) [/quote]Yes,
shooting him after he threw down the gun was completely
unnecessary. Even if the police didn't see him throw the gun,
they knew his hands were i the air.
[quote]The mass shooting are often planned, so you can’t put
that down to instant reactions. I still don’t know why automatic
weapons are needed , so personally I think they should be
banned. However Americans seem to think that their freedom is
being taken away from them if the laws are changed. With the
police situation, more training from the army on how to react in
situations perhaps would solve that problem. [/quote]Are they
planned? Some are, I guess, and some aren't. I get the feeling
though that someone who buys an automatic weapon has some idea
about how he might use it. He may not intend to use it when he
buys it; but he may think about it. He may find the idea of
shooting people exciting. He may relish the thought even,
playing it over and over in his mind. Then something triggers
him, and he goes over the edge and acts out on his fantasies.
The police attracts a lot of ex-military people. Is that a good
thing? Maybe not. Is the mindset the same? Should it be the
same? The military is trained to deal with enemies and how to
kill them. We may have too many police who see citizens as
enemies.
[quote]Many Christians have guns, many are pro guns , so if they
don’t take responsibility for change why should anyone else.
Maybe many feel it is their sense of security, which means they
are reliant on a gun for protection. Considering many Christians
who are pro guns are having a dig at people getting vaccinated
because of fear should consider their own attitudes and reliance
on worldly things to protect. ........[/quote]Many pro-gun
Christians do not trust the government to protect them. They're
actually anti-government in many ways. They feel they need guns
themselves to mete out justice as they see it. While guns in
rural areas can be useful at times when it would take the police
a long time to show up, and while guns in cities might be
useful if you lived in a dangerous area and wanted to protect
your family in your own house in case someone broke in, we've
seen that these pro-gun Christians want to carry guns
everywhere, even flaunting them. They want to walk around with
them as if they can scare others into being harmless. Most of
them are white males, too.
So what is it about white males that makes them want to flaunt
guns? I think it may have something to do with how white boys
are reared.
[quote]It’s attitudes that need to change and that requires a
change within, so prayer for inward change and an openness to
respond inwardly and consider why guns are relied on.
Maybe I don’t have a right to an opinion because it’s not my
experience to own a gun xx
Rita
[/quote]On the other hand, maybe the people who own guns have a
bias and have less a right to have their opinions taken
seriously than you.
#Post#: 27765--------------------------------------------------
Re: Guns in the USA
By: Kerry Date: April 24, 2021, 7:51 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=HOLLAND link=topic=1491.msg27748#msg27748
date=1619176768]
I think that the answer is logical. There are too many people
who have guns that shouldn't have guns. They are not
responsible or lawful gun owners.[/quote]What "the right to bear
arms" means needs clarified maybe. We also need to teach people
in school that no right named in the Constitution is absolute.
We cannot interpret the right to free speech to include slander
which injures others. We cannot interpret the right to assemble
to a group of people can invade my house to hold a meeting.
We run across many people who think about rights only in terms
of themselves.
[quote]I identify that with scapegoating, making others
responsible or having to pay the penalty for the grief that one
feels. Scapegoating is akin to racism, I think, and it is
endemic within a society that tolerates that racism.
It is a lack of police training or, in many departments, a
conscious decision to violate that training for various social
reasons, including homophobia, racism and hostility to the news
media.
Standard police training always specified that lethal force was
justified if the officer or a bystander was immediately
threatened by lethal force from a suspect. A police officer,
like any citizen who employs a weapon, must legally justify
every shot that is fired. Regrettably, these rules have been
relaxed over the years, now allowing police to shoot people in
the back instead of chasing them down as was required in former
days. In a sense, many police departments are allowing police
murder.[/quote]
The result is that people are not trusting the police to protect
them. When the police or politicians break the law themselves,
they are undermining law and order. Any government can
collapse if the trust of the people in it erodes too much. The
idea that you can use force alone to maintain law and order is a
fallacy. Most people obey the police because they trust them to
restore order when a lawbreaker creates a problem. If it's the
police creating the problems, that trust starts to evaporate.
People may obey the police out of fear; but the truth is there
is never enough police to rule a population if everyone hates
the police. China is resorting to more despotic methods.
Myanmar is. They're making a mistake if you ask me.
[quote]The right to murder is now being extended to other
citizens. Various Republican governors are seeking to relax
laws in respect to armed citizens shooting unarmed citizens, and
allowing vehicular homicide, allowing citizens to injure or run
over other citizens, if the offending other citizens are defined
as "a mob" or as "protestors". [/quote]
Is it a peaceful assembly if people block streets to protest?
Is it a peaceful protest if people are taunting the police? Do
people have the right to protest in front of a judge's house and
frighten children in it? I think the rules about what
constitutes a peaceful assembly need to be clarified. Local
and state governments across the government have ignored the
rights of non-protesters for a long time.
What is nuts to me about the proposed laws in Republican states
allowing people to run over protesters is the admission that the
police can't maintain law and order. We shouldn't expect the
police to keep roads and streets clear of people so that people
in cars and trucks can use them. We shouldn't expect people
to get permits for protests so authorities know the locations
can be kept safe for everyone.
The streets in my town get shut down at times for parades. It
would be okay with me if the town allowed protesters to use the
streets if they got a permit for it. It would be okay with me
too if the police arrested everyone who attempted to close down
a street for a protest without getting a permit. There are laws
about pedestrians on roads and streets -- enforce them.
[quote]The ethos for murder has been brought into our culture,
and guns are a symptom of it.[/quote]It reminds me of
vigilantism in the Wild Wild West and the Jim Crow South.
Vigilantism exists before the rule of law has been established;
and it can return if the rule of law breaks down. We see signs
of vigilantism starting to show up in black people now.
Is it not remarkable that protesters show up at a court trial?
The police force was on alert when the verdict was read. I am
not saying protesters influenced the verdict; but it seems clear
that there was a threat of violence if Derek Chauvin was
acquitted. I heard people involved in the demonstrations
claiming they had succeeded when the verdicts came in guilty. I
happen to think Chauvin was guilty; and maybe he would have
gotten off if no fuss had been raised -- but it's still not the
"rule of law" if we need groups of people protesting with the
hint that there may be violence if someone is not convicted.
So where does that leave us? I'd say people don't and can't
trust the justice system. We're leaning towards vigilantism.
What makes it different is that black people are using the
threat of violence. I understand why since the justice system
is broken, but I don't know if it's going to make things better.
[quote]We must pray about this, but we must also proclaim the
gospel and say that Jesus is the only scapegoat, or more
properly, a sacrificial lamb, the only sacrificial one, and that
he has died for us; and that no one else has to die out of our
anger and frustration about other people. We must love one
another as we wish others to love us. Jesus is the model of
this love. He was patient and kind to others. We must also be
aware that Jesus was also firm against those who turned the
temple, a house of prayer, into a den of thieves. He pronounced
his judgement against those that have turned religious devotion
into thievery, something used to maximize worldly power and
profit.
Since worldliness is based so often upon thievery, it is
supported by violence, which, in turn, means guns. As Jesus
said that those who live by the sword must die by the sword, so
it must be expected that in a society where there are many guns,
lethal violence is to be expected. With many guns must come
serious social tumults and disorders.[/quote]
Christianity itself may be in danger of failing to spread good
news, glad tidings. At least, a certain segment of Christians
seem so angry at others that they have forgotten the message of
the Gospel. . . if they even knew it. We have false shepherds
among us, perverting the Gospel and leading people astray.
[quote]The solution to the gun issue goes back to the
Constitutional nature of the right itself. If the whole body of
the people is the militia, the government may have the right to
regulate that very same militia. In other words, the government
may demand that all military-style weapons must be stored in
armories, such as citizens have in Britain.
If Americans reject this solution, they could follow Karl Marx
concerning weapons. He advocated the arming of the proletariat.
Marx preferred the Swiss model, where most citizens are trained
at arms. The Swiss require that all weapons, including military
class weapons must be stored at home and accept the heavy
regulations involving them to prevent their misuse and illegal
use. That is an effective solution. There is little gun crime
in Switzerland. Of course, there is little poverty and social
thievery by those in power.[/quote]I think the Founding Fathers
had something like the Swiss situation in mind. Their model has
been successful too in that no one wants to invade them.
I don't have a gun myself but I like the idea of allowing people
to have guns in their homes. A criminal can wonder if I own one
or not. He may think twice before breaking in.
[quote]Marx, of course, didn't think that a society which allows
some citizens to debase other citizens (such as in racism or
homophobia) has much of a chance of survival. In the modern
parlance, we all survive together as a community, or we all die
together as tribes warring against each other. It is all very
simple. Guns and social hatred don't make at good mix.
We need to pray, love one another, and follow Jesus.
[/quote]A government can increase its power in the short term by
encouraging divisions among its citizens. We see that happening
in several places across the globe. In the long term though, I
think Marx was right.
This comes to mind:
Proverbs 15:1 A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous
words stir up anger.
When I hear someone speaking in a way that stirs up anger, I
don't see that person as someone worthy as being a leader.
Matthew 5:43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt
love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse
you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which
despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in
heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the
good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do
not even the publicans the same?
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