I want to make it clear, however, that although I am deeply opposed to war, I am not advocating appeasement. It is often necessary to take a strong stand to counter unjust aggression ... War is violence and violence is unpredictable. Therefore, it is better to avoid it if possible, and never to presume that we know beforehand whether the outcome of a particular war will be beneficial or not. - The Reality of War, Tenzin Gyatso, The Fourteenth Dalai Lama
This one might not be 100 percent original with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, but it is nevertheless absolutely in accord with his philosophy.
His Holiness knows that, like war, interpersonal violence is a reality. To slightly misquote Leon Trotsky, you may not be interested in violence, but violence is interested in you. Should it come to you, and if you are not a pacifist, your choices will quickly be reduced to appeasement or defensive violence. Even calling the police, should you have the opportunity to do so, is to employ defensive violence by proxy.
Taking a strong stand and employing violence in defense of yourself or others may be the better choice. There is no moral contradiction in that.
7 comments:
Great post TSB!
This all very well indeed in a moral sense, but more importantly can the Llama hit a high C? Also when did he move to Asia, I always thought he lived in the Andes.
TSB: This is great advice when protecting state department officials, especially if they suddenly take on this expression ! gwb
http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/fp_thumb/images/user5/imageroot/hillary%20confused_3.jpg
TSB: NSA Goes Dark! gwb
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/nsa-website-hacking-rumors-227088
How long has it been since somebody bragged about shutting down that website?
And the name of that great book is 'Among My Enemies'
TSB: After bombers, Russian S-400s for Iranian base; After bombers, Russian S-400s for Iranian base less than 20km from Iranian-Iraq border. It's the first time Iran has allowed a foreign government to establish a military base inside it's borders. Less was said in the western press about the US FAILURE TO DETECT THE BUILDING OF THE BASE!
It looks like with Erdogan going to Tehran on Wed to sign a deal with the Iranians that the last piece is in place for a Russian-Turkish-Iranian military alliance. Russia is sending Speznatz troops to guard the base and emphasized that the long range missiles are purely for defensive purposes and the long range bombers are only to fight Al Nusra and allied terrorists in Iraq and Syria. (Joe Biden could skip his trip to Turkey next week and just ask Trump about what's going on. gwb
TSB: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-08-17/dr-drew-pinsky-says-he-“gravely-concerned”-about-hillary-clinton’s-health
America's most trusted doctor saying 'Sum Ting Wong'! Even my neighbor thinks she's acting weird and she watches the VIEW every morning! I see why they chose Tim Cain though. That guy has the weirdest wave and grin I've ever seen on a politician. Great for distracting attention from Hillary. gwb
TSB: "It’s Snowden Junior" - Former NSA Employees Say NSA Hack Is The Work Of A "Rogue Insider"...The leak of tools used by the NSA’s elite hacking team has resulted in speculation and finger-pointing in a desperate attempt to identify who could have exposed the government agency’s secrets. But one source says it was an inside job.
It looks like everything that's haywire leads back to Putin! And now Harley Davidson has been caught pulling a 'Volkswagon'...Until now, the emissions scandal revealed one year ago involving first Volkswagen and then countless other companies using "defeat devices" to evade emissions requirements, was contained to the car space. That changed moments ago when the U.S. government alleged in a lawsuit that Harley-Davidson “Screamin’ Eagle” after-market engine tuners are emissions-control defeat devices, and accused the motorcycle maker of violating federal air pollution laws. I wonder if one of Hillary's doctors might have given her a "Screaming Eagle device" by accident?? gwb
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