RA1 Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 (edited) repeat post deleted Edited November 28, 2009 by RA1 Link to post Share on other sites
TaraMaiden Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 The quote of a fictional character? I won't believe it merely because a fictional character said it. If you think there is truth in it then explain it in your own words rather than quoting karate kid. Now you're being obtuse. many snippets of good advice are repeated as words of wisdom. There's very little that can be originally said, when it's been said by somebody already.... Simply because the words were uttered by a fictional character, doesn't make them any less praiseworthy or valid. They had to be said by a 'real' person first (ie, the scriptwriter) and he got them from somewhere else first, maybe. Shakespeare made all his characters (most of them fictitious) say many things that have passed into the English Language. Are you going to discount what they said, merely because they are fiction? And many would argue that all the words of wisdom in the Bible are spoken by fictitious characters, so I think going down the route of "it's not valid because it wasn't said by a real person" is frankly - crap. Link to post Share on other sites
Eve Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 I would be interested to hear from the Christians here as to what approach he should take. Should he just walk away or stand up to bullies, even if it means hitting back? In my day I beat up the bullies and didnt regret one punch. With my children I taught them not to hit back, rather, to see the bullies as damaged/attention seeking individuals. My kids did hit back on a few occassions but mostly didnt. The hitting back happened in situations where there was no other option. Dont know.. I do believe in the ideal of not hitting back as I am a Christian but still recognise that some people need a good, solid kicking sometimes... Overall, I would agree that adults becoming involved can help to solve the situation but sometimes parents can make things worse. In the end, imparting confidence and supporting the ability to reason assisted my children to deal with certain 'characters' in more long-term ways than hitting back could satisfy. Not easy though. Take care, Eve xx Link to post Share on other sites
Ross PK Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 In my day I beat up the bullies and didnt regret one punch. With my children I taught them not to hit back, rather, to see the bullies as damaged/attention seeking individuals. My kids did hit back on a few occassions but mostly didnt. The hitting back happened in situations where there was no other option. Dont know.. I do believe in the ideal of not hitting back as I am a Christian but still recognise that some people need a good, solid kicking sometimes... Same as what I always did, Eve, and never once did they ever try to do anything again after a good kicking. In fact afterwards a few would even be all 'pally pally' with me and would be acting as though we were friends from then on. All bullies are just cowards. Link to post Share on other sites
RA1 Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 ...never once did they ever try to do anything again after a good kicking. What about the child who isn't capable of giving the bullies a "good kicking" as you put it? Link to post Share on other sites
D-Lish Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 .. I do believe in the ideal of not hitting back as I am a Christian but still recognise that some people need a good, solid kicking sometimes... Well that is war right? Hitting back, sometimes hitting in the first place. Pacifism is not a Christian Ideal given history. Doctrine says one thing, then contradicts the ideal in the next sentence. Bible is full of hypocrisy, literally filled with it. If you want to deal with bullies in a Christian manner- you have many contradictory scenarios to choose from- so simply pick your course of action and research a passage that supports it. Link to post Share on other sites
TaraMaiden Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 good post, D-Lish. I second that. Many Christians cherry-pick, and the prime guilty parties in our current history are George Bush and Tony Blair (that much publicised convert to Catholicism. How appropriate....) Link to post Share on other sites
Glenguy Posted December 5, 2009 Share Posted December 5, 2009 (edited) I'm no stranger to a Christian upbringing, neither am I a stranger to being a small kid being a target to schoolyard bullies. My parents taught me to turn the other cheek, and at times, not only did I take a beating because of that, but so did my self esteem. Sometimes the bullying became so frequent that I rose up and got the best of my antagonist, but it still turned me into a messed up kid. Even at the age of 47 I still get that short guy attitude that says: "don't give me any crap"! But I still am a pretty easy going and confident kind of guy, and I still try to maintain a Christian attitude towards people in spite of my "short guy attitude". What I'm leading up to is that if I had a child ( I never was a parent) I would train that child to be honest and loving towards people, but to defend himself (or herself) against the bully and still make an effort to be a friend to that person. Edited December 5, 2009 by Glenguy Link to post Share on other sites
Lovelybird Posted December 5, 2009 Share Posted December 5, 2009 Well said Glenguy, I read somewhere there is a name for this, a Holy Doormat, at the first seeing this, I laughed quite hard at it. I was a little guilt of this. It is a severe distortion of turning another cheek. Acutally Jesus taught about diginity and an loving attitude providing this person CAN possess this quality at the time, it is not passiveness. Jesus is so loving and compassionate, why did He encourage the bully and taught offendee just tolerate the injustice? that because this was NOT Jesus teaching. In Bible so many places teach about "confront your brother so you can win him back". What is good for God that bully gets more bullier, and weaker gets more trampled? Honesty is the key. If you confront, you may win back this person, and give him a chance to realize his mistakes and sins; if you tolerate his evil, that only encourage him to be more evil, and your hurt turn to bitterness in yourself, that cannot be the will of God. I don't believe God wants Christian to be passive. HE isn't. Link to post Share on other sites
Ross PK Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 He certianly isn't, I mean, sending people to be tortured for all enternity in hell, just because they don't believe in him certainly isn't passive. Maybe instead of you people complaining about people standing up to bullies, you should be more concerned with what your supposedly 'all loving' God is doing first. Link to post Share on other sites
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