Foxy,

You say "I could never support violence. It is morally repehensibleto me and is is a subject I feel very strongly about.
It is personal."

Do you really mean that if you saw a child being stabbed you would not use violent means to save the child's life?

You would not use violence to prevent a greater violence?

Surely not, but worm your way out of it.

Issy, Foxy is not saying that, she will put her own view, but like me I believe she is a person who wants to avoid violence in the first instance.

Like your example of hundreds of Japanese being slaughtered, by the day of the event taking place it was too late, it had most likely become inevitable. It should bring no joy to the perpetrators to engage in such a terrible act of war. It could have been avoided if persons of goodwill, the politicians, the leaders, the decision makers, from all sides had been able to sit down years beforehand and settle their differences peacefully.

In war the enemy combatants, and non combatants, are no more the monsters than we are. ANZAC Day to me is a day to remember ALL who suffered in war, not just our side, but those from the other side as well. Surprisingly at Gallipoli the events that started ANZAC DAY, seen our men come to understand the enemy to a degree. My grand-uncle who was there for about 9 days in June 1915, before being wounded, always said something like; "Johnny Turk wasn't a bad chap, he was only defending his homeland". Uncle could in some small way understand that the enemy was a human being as well, pity the warmongers could not have done the same long before those terrible events transpired.

Just because we have not come to a condition of enlightenment in our human existence where violence is obsolete, does not mean we should not endeavour to achieve such a noble ambition. The knuckle draggers who can't see past the end of their noses can never understand that.

Issy,

I'll give you a real life instance; A few weeks back on a Sunday morning I was in the local servo filling the car with petrol. This hoon drives in, parks in front of the air station, blocking access, there are plenty of other parks, but he chooses to park right there. Goes over talking to some other hoon parked near by. I want to put air in the tyres, I fill up, I go in and pay, hoping this bloke will move, came back, wait a minute. He didn't move, so I said to him in a calm voice; "Excuses me, could you please move your car so I can use the air?" He ignores my request, I wait another minute or so, and ask again. With that he comes storming over, with abuse, threatening violence towards me. The question to you Issy, is what should I have done at that point? You tell me and I'll tell you what I did later.

Dear Paul,

Thank You - you've explained things so well.

In truth, I wonder how many people would realistically
be able to physically come to someone else's defense
if the need arose.

Very few I imagine. Especially
if you're older and have certain physical impairments
as I now do - having limitations with mobility. I think
most of us would call 000 and ask for the police and an
ambulance.

Anyway, Thanks again for understanding what I was trying
to say so well.

Paul,

Move on to the next service station.

Foxy,

Worming out as usual, by the time the police and ambulance arrive the kid is dead.

However, you obviously think that Australian soldiers were doing the wrong thing in using violence to defend their country and that police are wrong to use violence to save lives.

Do you really subscribe to the notion that no one should ever use violence to save a life?

The council that put up the stupid sign would endorse the use of violence to force a legal eviction from a property under their control, double standards indeed.

Is Mise,

I can see that it's time for me to stop
wasting my posts, offering you further explanations,
You've shown neither respect for me or my views,
and have totally misunderstood what I was trying to say.
Continuing this conversation therefore would be pointless.

I do not think that Australian soldiers were doing the
wrong thing in defending their country or that the
police are wrong to do their job to save lives. As a matter of fact - you need to go back and read my posts.

And using word like - "worm you way out" does not encourage
continued inter-action. It's rude.

When you show some capability to have a mature civilised
discussion - I shall be happy to continue. Until then -
I suggest you talk to your kindred spirits who will
bolster your ego, and agree with your point of view.
It appears that differing view points don't sit well with
yours.