If you consider yourself a Christian and act in self-defence, you don’t truly believe

I'm not a christian, but let's take a look at some aspects of what you're doing by posting this.

• Manufacturing a test of purity for a conviction you don't identify with
• Telling people they fail this test if they don't meet some criteria
• Gate keeping some people out of their belief system
• Causing distress on those who identify with these beliefs
• Making some people feel unwelcome
• Adding to the current trend of ideological polarization
• Hitting an easy target
• Beating a dead horse
• Conjuring approval by attacking a generally unpopular group within this context.

I say this because I've done it, and a lot more aggressively than you just did. Used to do it all the time, actually. Still do it once in a while, when frustrated. It amused me. Made me feel like I was fighting a good fight against the people and ideas that weren't helping, but the truth is, at least in my case, I was just being mean and petty to feel control over my frustrating life.

With time and after seeing the consequences of polarization within my own and several other countries, I came to believe that this kind of tribalistic aggression ends in a worse society and world for everyone.

I say let's try to make the lemmyverse fediverse a nicer place that what corporate social media has turned the rest of the internet into. This isn't 4chan, facebook or reddit. We can be humans here.

Even if only to stick it to Christians or whoever you dislike, there is nothing better for yourself, your community and the world than to lead by example. You know. Doing what you want to see in others. I'd really like to see more compassion. I'd like to see more respect and kindness. I don't always accomplish it, but I try to do these things myself... and you know what? After making the effort, it feels good. It actually feels good.

However you feel about my excessively moralizing rant that got out of hand, and believe it or not, I feel for you, man. I know what it's like to feel like there are people who are convinced that bad things are good and feel powerless against them. Feels pretty shitty.

Really genuinely wish you the best, hope people don't get too worked up about this post or my comment and more than anything else, I look forward to trying to make this wonderful community better every day with your help and that of every other kind and well meaning person here.

Thanks for reading and don't let your frustration get the best of you. You're too good for this stuff. <3

Not a Christian but... F* my wife/kids/loved ones, right? And I should just stand for immorality and violent threats? Turning the cheek is one thing (I've done it, or well, I didn't retaliate at least and the other person apologised profusely for their outburst), and anything that's underneath it, but anything else is neither reasonable nor part of the teachings of Jesus. I hope you're young, or else idk... Your thought process is extremely superficial and limited even in the superficiality.

Just like every time the pope takes a ride in the popemobile.

Ecclesiastes 3:4 - "there is a time to kill and a time to heal"

Don't only look at one part of the Bible. As important as the gospels are, you need to look at all of scripture to get the full picture. Yes, "turn the other cheek" and "give them your shirt as well", but do those as part of loving your neighbor as you love yourself.

ive met none less christ-like than those identifying as christians.

Christian tradition teaches that we are the hands of God; that God gets things done in the world through the instrumentality of human action. When you do an act of kindness for your neighbor, you are instantiating God's kindness; when you defend your neighbor from harm or oppression, you are instantiating God's protection.

One of the big differences between Martin Luther King Jr.'s ideology of nonviolence and Mahatma Gandhi's ideology of nonviolence is that King accepted self-defense while Gandhi rejected it. Dr. King carried a pistol in his early career, and was later defended by armed bodyguards; while Gandhi rejected armed protection and called for oppressed people to surrender to their oppressors. So empirically, rejection of self-defense is less Christian and more Hindu.

If anyone shoots you in the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.