Cigarman writes:
All I know is you are wrong. You state, "I think it is even more wrong to believe that we can change our world for the better by eliminating a person we percieve has a problem or that somehow we are justified in being cruel to him/her just because we believe him/her to be less perfect that we believe ourselves to be."
I have some names... Hitler,
With all due respect,
Cigarman, it is interesting to note that it was exactly Hilter whom I had in mind as I wrote the post. He was indeed the most famous bully who thought he could
change our world for the better by eliminating a person (or millions of persons) he perceived had a problem or that somehow he was justified in being cruel to him/her/them because he believed them to be less perfect than he believed himself to be. Hitler had a great deal of physical power and was highly successful in convincing a whole nation to pledge allegiance to him to make him feel justified in his stands, but IMHO the true root of his problem was that he lacked the tremendous personal courage that it takes to face the most evil bully of all--that which lives within.
If there is, in the end any hope for a peaceful world, we all must and (I hope) will seek the extraordinary bravery that it takes to stand against those behaviors which we find unacceptable with the highest degree of grace and courage to which we have risen at the time.
Beyond that, I honestly don't understand most of the references in your post but would be most willing to discuss them via e-mail should you so desire.
The primary point of my post was that the bully who takes the greatest courage to battle, is the one that lies within.
If I enjoy (if we all enjoy) a small degree of success in waging that war, the world will indeed be a far better place for our effots.
[This message has been edited by Punki (edited 03-04-2001).]