Dearest sister, at the end of the day all any of us can do is follow our conscience to the best of our ability and hope that The Lord will show us mercy come our time
I think we must pray to be ready to do what God requires at any moment. I would (I hope) fight to defend the Blessed Sacrament from sacrilege. I am not brave. Far from it. But I hope the courage would be given. To defend a child I would (I hope) use whatever weapon I had to use. I just dont think we can predict what we would do under those circumstances. I trust God to direct me when the time comes.
A father defending his family has a positive duty to use force to stop violence against his family, even to the point of mortally wounding the offender. We forget that there is a difference between killing and murder. One may kill and regret doing so the rest of their life. The application of force to stop violence is not immoral. One however never commits murder without hate.
The Church teaches that the taking of a life is permissible in self-defence when no other course of action is possible
It is easy to discuss these things as abstracts. Then everything seems so black and white But then when you wade out into the swamp of conflict black and white fades quickly and you end up with loads of shades of grey . There are no Freeways through swamps. If you're very, very lucky you have little stones you can jump for. Often not even that . At the start of conflict everyone has 20/20 vision but as soon as you enter it you're as blind as any bat and guessing your way forward.
The fixed idea that if such and such a thing happens in conflict I am going to this and this is delusional. You have simply no idea what you are or are not going to do and neither has anyone else. It's a Roulette Wheel. You hope you'll do the right thing But that's all it is A hope.
One of the first lessons violence taught me was a little humility. It is a great teacher of personal limitations
During the Rwanda genocide many Catholic priests and nuns were involved in and later convicted of Crimes against humanity. I bet if you'd suggested such a thing to them before the bloodshed they'd have laughed in your face . Well they're not laughing now. Violent conflict is a great tester of who and what we really are. It is a bottom line. You might have been sure of your bottom line before it But I'll guarantee you'll not be so sure after the death dance is over. The innocence of the unblooded. War is not a game of chess.
That’s one advantage of being on one’s own. I no longer have the duty to defend and protect my family. That makes it much easier to lay down your weapons, spread your arms, and just say “Viva Cristo Rey!”
Who knows? It reminds me of the Dark Night of the Soul. You get thrown in one way and you come out another. War is one reason why when we say the 'Our Father' , we pray, 'Lead us not into temptation'. You can't make any guarantees of what you will or will not do. It's like the Apostles on the boat with Jesus. You give Him a shake and beg Him to help. He's the one who steers the boat. All boats but especially the boat of war.
In places which one has the basic right of armed self defense and freedom of speech the easiest part of that equation is arming oneself. We are then bound to understand when and how that use is justified and if we take our responsibility seriously we have IMO a duty to train for that situation as well. Just like for any person courageous enough to test their limitations inside the ring, you don't want to wait until the moment is upon you to find out what you are made of. Something happened recently that made me wonder if the people of that nation had not been forcefully disarmed if the Government would have taken such an authoritarian approach and forced under armed police 3000 men women and children to be locked in their apartments against their will.
Forcibly locked in to house arrest by armed police would be expected in communist China, but "democratic" Australia?!?!
When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane Peter did just that. He drew his sword and cut the ear of one of the police who came to arrest Christ. The ultimate innocent , the Lamb of God. Yet Jesus told him to put his sword away and said that He could have had ten legions to defend Him if He wished. I'm not a pacifist, neither is the Church. I'm just cautioning about being too ready to go down the road to violence.
Know what you're getting into . It's a deep, deep, deep bloody swamp I was up to my neck in war and violence as was my family since I was 13 till I met Our Lady , 1969 to 1981. I know what I'm writing about . I know the difference between talking about these things as abstract intellectual moral constructs and driving in and getting yours hands bloody Bloody right up to your neck. In my experience violence doesn't work. I'm sorry, it doesn't.
I live by myself now in a 30’ travel trailer on a friend’s rural/agricultural 5 acre property. I would not hesitate to defend and protect my friend and his wife and children if called to do so, and it’s something we discuss, but the chances of something coming out to this rural area seem small. I have my permit to carry concealed weapons back home in Pennsylvania and did so for many years. I just applied for a concealed carry permit where I currently live. I don’t know if I’ll ever use it now though. I am psychologically and spiritually prepared to apply a moral level of force to stop unjust aggression and violence, as it’s something I’ve prepared for and expected for a long time. Given my physical limitations since strokes, though, I don’t at all feel compelled to go forth from here to “do battle.” That’s for younger more physically able men than me.
Who knows? One thing historically I do recall and I am open to contradiction. From the writings of the Fathers of the Church concerning the Early persecutions and mass killings of Christian's I know of no reports of violent resistance by Christians Am I wrong? Even one instance in the many thousands of deaths? Of the twelve Apostles who were Martyred did one of them offer violent defense? Even one? Men, women, children, even mothers with suckling babies. Like lambs.