Stand your ground laws are not a license to kill

The alleged killing of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman has opened a national debate concerning the use of lethal weapons for self-defense. We see so much violence and killing on television and other media that we can develop a callous attitude toward the sanctity of life.

Christians and others believe that human life is sacred because God created all life and established a special relationship with humanity. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end and no one can claim the right directly to destroy an innocent human being. “Thou shall not kill” is still one of the Ten Commandments.

Regarding self-defense, people have the right to defend their lives against the attacks of an unjust aggressor. They may employ whatever force is necessary to ward off the unjust assailant. However, we may only inflict injury on the assailant that is necessary to stop the aggressor. If, for example, a call for help or inflicting a slight wound can drive off the attacker, this should be done. It is morally wrong to kill a person if the above examples can be employed.

The unjust attack must be actual and real and not merely planned or threatened. Acting on someone’s threats is morally wrong. Sometimes people may be bound to defend others’ lives because of their duty or state in life. Parents should defend the lives of their spouse and children. Soldiers, police officers and private guards hired for that purpose are bound in justice to safeguard the lives of those entrusted to them.

“Stand your ground” laws should not be a license to kill. Hopefully, this may shed some light on the morality of this national debate.

Someone sent me the following meditation on perseverance. St. Paul who met with many obstacles in life but refused to quit, wrote, “Let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest-time, if we do not give up.” (Gal. 6:9)

Admiral Robert Peary attempted to reach the North Pole seven times before he finally succeeded. Oscar Hammerstein produced five shows on Broadway that were flops before staging Oklahoma, which almost 5 million people saw during a record-breaking run of 2,212 performances. Basketball’s all-star Michael Jordan talked about perseverance in very simple terms, “Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it or work around it.”

Quitting is more about who you are, than where you are or what you are up against. We all have our excuses. The truth is, external things do not stop us. It is what happens to us on the inside. Most of us stop ourselves from reaching our potential. We can pretend that people, things and situations outside ourselves are to blame, but in reality most failures are just the result of a lack of bulldog-like tenacity.

The only guarantee for failure is to stop trying. There is no insurmountable barrier, except our own inherent lack of purpose and persistence. Regard obstacles as hurdles over which we must jump. The good thing is that we have God’s help in jumping over those hurdles.

After speaking about being shipwrecked, stoned, imprisoned, betrayed, hungry, thirsty, sleepless, cold and naked, St. Paul writes, “I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Col. 12:10).

Where does that kind of strength and tenacity come from? God! The assignment God gives us will never be greater than the grace the Almighty provides.

So draw on this Divine strength, keep pressing ahead, pursue your goal and you will prevail.