How are Christians to interpret Jesus’ commandment to love their enemies?

[th1b.taylor]

This topic, approached from either end of the Bible is always a sticky subject. Sticky because as a people we are lazy. Three times in the scriptures we are admonished by God to neither add nor to subtract from His Word. This single principal unites the Bible [the first 39 books] and the Life Application Commentary [the last 27 books of the Christian Bible] into one continuous volume of work.

Modern day New Testament and the New Covenant Christian (Oxymorons, both) have repeatedly informed me the artificial and man made division exists because God/Jesus changed in the four century time span when He spoke not to Israel. This however is a sure sign of one of two conditions, however. Either this is a case of disobedience because they have removed part of God's Holy Word or they are some form of ignorant of the scriptures. God has never changed, not shall He ever! (Malachi 3:6a)

To accuse me, personally, of using the one passage where Jesus told His men to purchase a sword will not float, at all. In John 1:1-5 we learn a good deal of our Master beginning with Jesus, God in the flesh of a man, is, not was but is, the God of the Old Testament making every word of the first 39 books the word and the commands of Jesus. Just two, there are many, godly fighting men are King David and Joshua and I fully believe they are in Heaven today, waiting our arrival.

When we read the Bible and not selected and edited portions thereof, Jesus never wanted a people that are cowards. When we read scriptures in their context we should never want to go to war but if we are pushed we should kill enough of them that they sue for peace. God's Army is not made up of cowards, no matter how often this subject is brought forward.

 

[LovethroughDove]

When we read scriptures in their context we should never want to go to war but if we are pushed we should kill enough of them that they sue for peace. God's Army is not made up of cowards, no matter how often this subject is brought forward.

No. This is only your opinion. God asks us to have a supernatural kind of Love and that includes our enemies.
Matthew 5:44-45 But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.

 

[Deborah13]

In my experience, it takes more courage to face an enemy without any weapon other than faith in God to protect you than it does to face an enemy with a weapon to defend yourself.
In the end, I was a coward, I used the law as a weapon to defend/protect myself and my children.

 

[th1b.taylor]

Y

No. This is only your opinion. God asks us to have a supernatural kind of Love and that includes our enemies.
Matthew 5:44-45 But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.

You are stuck in reverse LtD, you repeat this [inflammatory. Please review "Forum Guidelines"] by denying the truth, over and over, that Jesus said many, many, things that to the unsubmitted cannot connect because without complete submission to the Holy Spirit, these things make no sense. I have never said we should not love the enemy and I have never said we should not exhaust other solutions nor have I said we should break out thee wine and be jubilant when we are forced to kill to preserve the peace and/or the safety of our wives, children, mothers and fathers.

[Offensive statement]

 

[Rollo Tamasi]

The Op asks us to interpret Jesus command to love our enemies.
People seem to think that makes this thread a sounding board for their pro-violence beliefs.
Oh, I love the enemy, now praise the Lord and pass the ammo.
(Edited, A&T Guidelines: "Subsequent opposing responses should include references to supportive scripture..." If you choose to accuse people of blasphemy you better have some pretty clear scripture to support that judgement. Obadiah)
(Edited, ToS 2.4. "Publicly judging someone as not being a Christian and/or not following Christ unless they themselves claim not be a Christian is disallowed. That's between them and the Lord. This includes judgments against collective beliefs or groups in general." Obadiah)

 

[th1b.taylor]

The Op asks us to interpret Jesus command to love our enemies.
People seem to think that makes this thread a sounding board for their pro-violence beliefs.
Oh, I love the enemy, now praise the Lord and pass the ammo.
(Edited, A&T Guidelines: "Subsequent opposing responses should include references to supportive scripture..." If you choose to accuse people of blasphemy you better have some pretty clear scripture to support that judgement. Obadiah)
(Edited, ToS 2.4. "Publicly judging someone as not being a Christian and/or not following Christ unless they themselves claim not be a Christian is disallowed. That's between them and the Lord. This includes judgments against collective beliefs or groups in general." Obadiah)

Not true [violation of ToS, 2.4]. There can never be a complete or through understanding of any single nor of any grouping of scripture without the light of all scripture shinning upon it/them.

The primary mistake here is the most common error of the Revisionists of today when the Bible is discussed. You draw your conclusion from the Commentary on the Bible without, even, going to the Bible to see what is being commented on.

The Bible was complete about 400 years before the Christ/Messiah was born. The Bible is, in the Christian version, the first 39 books and the only God ordained/God spoken Life Application Commentary ever recorded is contained in the last 27 books. I did not arrive at this conclusion at the elbow of some man or men, the Holy Spirit has taught me this through my submissive studies where the world would say I read alone. That, as any Cristian should understand was never and is never the case, the Spirit is always here, just as long as I do not quench Him.

 

[Malachi]

(Removed this portion. Response to and quote of a deleted portion of a post. Obadiah)

So, the question is "Does God permit the killing of enemies in battle when countries go to war?" and "Did God permit His servants to go to battle and destroy their enemies?" The answer is obvious. David is a good example -- a man after God's heart who nonetheless had to shed blood.

God permits the taking of lives as a judgment. Captial punishment is based upon Bible teaching. Defence with arms is also Bible teaching. There are many pacifist Christians who will not take up arms but will serve in other capacities during war. But to apply the teaching of "Love your enemies" to nations is misrepresenting Scripture. You and I individually must not hate our enemies, but instead bless them. But Christ will destroy all His enemies at His coming -- "put them under His feet". This will be a violent and bloody destruction. This will also be righteous judgment.

Provide scriptural support for your statements. See "Forum Guidelines."

 

[Rollo Tamasi]

The command from Christ to love our enemies is clearly applicable only to our personal enemies. It does not address the issue of the military defence of a country. Christianity is for individual Christians. There are no "Christian" countries per se.

So, the question is "Does God permit the killing of enemies in battle when countries go to war?" and "Did God permit His servants to go to battle and destroy their enemies?" The answer is obvious. David is a good example -- a man after God's heart who nonetheless had to shed blood.

God permits the taking of lives as a judgment. Captial punishment is based upon Bible teaching. Defence with arms is also Bible teaching. There are many pacifist Christians who will not take up arms but will serve in other capacities during war. But to apply the teaching of "Love your enemies" to nations is misrepresenting Scripture. You and I individually must not hate our enemies, but instead bless them. But Christ will destroy all His enemies at His coming -- "put them under His feet". This will be a violent and bloody destruction. This will also be righteous judgment.

Provide scriptural support for your statements. See "Forum Guidelines."

Interesting statements.
What enemies do we have that are not personal?

 

[LovethroughDove]

(Post removed. Response to deleted portion of another post. Obadiah)

 

[jocor]

Thank you all for these very helpful posts.

jocor, you said that modern Jews “are not believers in Messiah Yeshua and do not follow his teaching to ‘love your enemies.’” Can’t this teaching also be found in the Old Testament as well?

I do not believe the OT teaches it as Yeshua did. Here are his words in context:

Mat 5:43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
​

While the OT commands us to do good to our enemies in certain circumstances (Ex 23:4-5), it does not overtly teach us to love our enemies in the way Yeshua declared. Yeshua's expectation of us goes far beyond the way certain enemies were to be treated (Deut 23:3-6).

You also said, “had Israel obeyed Yahweh in the beginning by totally destroying those seven nations in the land, they would not have these enemies to be a constant snare and thorn in their flesh.” Are you saying that had the Israelites destroyed the seven nations, they never would have been exiled and thus never would have found the Palestinians living in their land when they returned to it in 1948?

No. Perhaps they would have been exiled for other reasons. Israel also has enemies that are not of those seven nations that were to be annihilated. I was only referring to the seven nations, not other enemies.

Finally, is this a correct history of the people of Israel and summary of the reasoning behind your conclusion;
- Abram is called from Ur to settle in the promised land (Canaan).
- Abram’s descendants Isaac and Jacob (Israel) are multiplied in the land.
- Joseph (Jacob’s son) is sold into slavery in Egypt.
- Famine strikes the land and the rest of the Israelites migrate to Egypt. They are eventually enslaved in Egypt, where they remain for 400 years.
- God delivers the Israelites out of Egypt and after 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, brings them back to the promised land. The Israelites destroy the people of Heshbon (Deu 2), Bashan (Deu 3), Amalek (1Sa 15), the Midianites (Num 25) and the Canaanites in Jericho (all who were within it, with the exception of Rahab and her family) (Jos 6).
- God also instructs the Israelites to “conquer and utterly destroy” (Deu 7:2) seven nations “greater and mightier than” Israel (“the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites”) (Deu 7:1) to prevent the Israelites from engaging in the idolatry of their foes and to prevent the nations from teaching the Israelites “to do according to all their abominations which they have done for their gods, and you sin against the Lord your God” (Deu 20:18).
- Israel did not obey God’s command to destroy the seven nations (Psa 106:34), but were mingled among them, learned their works (Psa 106:35) and served their idols, which were a snare to them (Psa 106:36). They sacrificed their children unto demons (Psa 106:37) and shed innocent blood in their sacrifices to the idols of Canaan, polluting the land with blood (Psa 106:38). Therefore the wrath of the Lord was kindled against His people (Psa 106:40) and He gave them into the hand of the heathen and they that hated them ruled over them (Psa 106:41). Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand (Psa 106:42).
- Israel was subsequently divided into the Northern Kingdom (Samaria), which was conquered by the Assyrians, and the Southern Kingdom (Judah), which was conquered by the Babylonians, who held the Israelites captive and exiled them.
- Israel has since been occupied by various foreign powers, including the Roman Empire, the Ottoman Empire and the British Mandate of Palestine.
- In 1948, the British Mandate of Palestine came to an end and the modern State of Israel was founded. The Twelve Tribes of Israel were able to reunite in Israel for the first time since the Babylonian Exile.
- The history of modern Israel is marked by constant wars between the Jews and the Arabs, including the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the 1956 Suez War, the 1967 Six-Day War, the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the 1987 First Intifada, the 2000 Second Intifada (Al-Aqsa Intifada), the 2008 First Gaza War (Operation Cast Lead), the 2012 Second Gaza War (Operation Pillar of Defense), the 2014 Third Gaza War (Operation Protective Edge).
- The argument can be made that had the Israelites heeded God’s call to “utterly destroy” (Deu 7:2) the seven nations, then the Israelites would not have learned their works (Psa 106:35), served their idols (Psa 106:36), sacrificed their children unto demons (Psa 106:37) and kindled the wrath of God (Psa 106:40), who in turn never would have gave them into the hand of the heathen (Psa 106:41) and under the subjection of their enemies (Psa 106:42). The Assyrian conquest of the Northern Kingdom (Samaria) and the Babylonian conquest of the Southern Kingdom (Judah) would never have occurred. Had the Israelites utterly destroyed the seven nations, they would have possessed the land, would not have been exiled and would not have found the Palestinians living there when they returned in 1948. All of the Arab-Israeli Wars since 1948 would have thus been obviated.

That is a fairly good summation except I do not believe Israel became a divided kingdom because of those seven nations. They divided because of problems within the tribes themselves (infighting). Therefore, the conquest by Assyria and Babylon would have occurred anyway. If the adversary could not use those seven nations against Israel because they were annihilated, he would have found others to do his work of destroying Israel.

 

[CenturionForChrist]

I really don't understand what is so hard about understanding that self-defense is OK and allowed by God. The Bible has to be taken into its entire context otherwise why even include the Old Testament in the Bible, obviously because it matters. If you really believe Jesus is the God of Abraham than its so plain to see. Everything Jesus quoted already was, because like he said I AM HE, he always has been and will be and he does not change, his ways do not change.

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” - Hebrews 13:8

“For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed” Malachi 3:6

"Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM." John 8:58

 

[iLOVE]

To love your enemies is not a suggestion, nor a request, this is a command from our King Lord Jesus Christ. Love is command able. Which means you can choice to do it or not do it.

What is biblical love? It is the decision to compassionately and righteously to seek the well being of another even though the like isn't present. Christians get the word like mixed-up with love. Jesus says, Love your enemies", He do not say like them. He said love them. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another. John 13:35 NKJV
It is the love relationship in Jesus family that makes Him look real. God wants people to know you belong to Him by love. This is the Trinity trademark.

 

[jmt356]

jocor, Rollo, Deborah13 and the other pacifists on this forum: How would you respond to the following arguments in support of militant Christianity:
The New Testament contains various accounts in which John the Baptist, Jesus and Peter encounter Roman soldiers. Had military service been incompatible with being a member of Kingdom of God, surely John the Baptist, Jesus and Peter would have made some note of this or they would have counseled the soldiers to abandon the military. Rather, we read the following:
1. John the Baptist Did Not Counsel Roman Soldiers to Give Up Their Arms
John the Baptist was a forerunner of Jesus, preaching that “kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mat 3:2). His message was a prophecy of the kingdom of heaven to come. When soldiers came to him and asked him what they must do, he replied, “Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely and be content with your wages” (Luke 3:14). Never did he say that they should depart from the military. The fact that he said they should be content with their wages implies that they should accept their wages and that the institution of military service is not incompatible with the Kingdom of Heaven.
2. Jesus Praised the Centurion for His Faith
When Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion pleaded with Jesus to heal his servant. He said that he was not worthy of Jesus’ coming under his roof, but only asked that Jesus “speak a word, and my servant will be healed” (Mat 8:5-8). Jesus marveled at his faith, and declared that he had “not found such great faith, not even in Israel” (Mat 8:10). After he praised the centurion, He did not command him to give up his arms or resign from the military or that the military life was one of sin. Rather, he tells him, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you” (Mat 8:13).
While Jesus does not point out to the centurion that his military service was sin, Jesus does not hesitate to point out sin in other instances where such sin needed to be corrected:
- Jesus condemned the scribes and Pharisees as “hypocrites” who are like “whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness” (Mat 23:27);
- He drove out those who bought and sold at the temple and “overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves” (Mat 21:12), making “a whip of cords” and driving them “all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen” (John 2:15);
- Jesus said to the woman caught in the act of adultery (John 8:1-4) to “go and sin no more” (John 8:11);
- When the Samarian asked Jesus to give him the water so that she would no longer thirst (John 4:15), Jesus asked her to call her husband (John 4:16). Indeed, Jesus was pointing out an area in the woman’s life that was not right with God: she had five husbands and the one she was with at that time was not her husband (John 4:18).
3. God Used the Centurion Cornelius to Graft Gentiles into the Kingdom of God
We can look to the centurion Cornelius as another example of a soldier who was praised by God. He is highly regarded as a “devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always” (Acts 10:2), so much so that an angel of God came to him and declared that his prayers and alms “have come up for a memorial before God” (Acts 10:3-4). Cornelius is not only described as “a just man, one who fears God and has a good reputation among all the nation of the Jews,” but also as one who was “divinely instructed by a holy angel” (Acts 10:22), and who was used to bring the Gospel of Christ to the Gentiles (Acts 10:35-48).
The fact that of all of the Gentiles, God used a soldier to graft Gentiles into the Kingdom of God gives an imprimatur to the institution of the military.

That is a fairly good summation except I do not believe Israel became a divided kingdom because of those seven nations. They divided because of problems within the tribes themselves (infighting). Therefore, the conquest by Assyria and Babylon would have occurred anyway. If the adversary could not use those seven nations against Israel because they were annihilated, he would have found others to do his work of destroying Israel.

jocor: Are you suggesting that had the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom of Israel remained united with the two tribes of the Southern Kingdom of Judah, the Israelites would not have been conquered by the Assyrians and Babylonians?
Also, your Avatar states you are not Christian, but your posts suggest that you are. I was wondering if you could clarify as this would help me understand where you are coming from.

 

[jocor]

jocor, Rollo, Deborah13 and the other pacifists on this forum: How would you respond to the following arguments in support of militant Christianity:
The New Testament contains various accounts in which John the Baptist, Jesus and Peter encounter Roman soldiers. Had military service been incompatible with being a member of Kingdom of God, surely John the Baptist, Jesus and Peter would have made some note of this or they would have counseled the soldiers to abandon the military. Rather, we read the following:
1. John the Baptist Did Not Counsel Roman Soldiers to Give Up Their Arms
John the Baptist was a forerunner of Jesus, preaching that “kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mat 3:2). His message was a prophecy of the kingdom of heaven to come. When soldiers came to him and asked him what they must do, he replied, “Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely and be content with your wages” (Luke 3:14). Never did he say that they should depart from the military. The fact that he said they should be content with their wages implies that they should accept their wages and that the institution of military service is not incompatible with the Kingdom of Heaven.
2. Jesus Praised the Centurion for His Faith
When Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion pleaded with Jesus to heal his servant. He said that he was not worthy of Jesus’ coming under his roof, but only asked that Jesus “speak a word, and my servant will be healed” (Mat 8:5-8). Jesus marveled at his faith, and declared that he had “not found such great faith, not even in Israel” (Mat 8:10). After he praised the centurion, He did not command him to give up his arms or resign from the military or that the military life was one of sin. Rather, he tells him, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you” (Mat 8:13).
While Jesus does not point out to the centurion that his military service was sin, Jesus does not hesitate to point out sin in other instances where such sin needed to be corrected:
- Jesus condemned the scribes and Pharisees as “hypocrites” who are like “whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness” (Mat 23:27);
- He drove out those who bought and sold at the temple and “overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves” (Mat 21:12), making “a whip of cords” and driving them “all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen” (John 2:15);
- Jesus said to the woman caught in the act of adultery (John 8:1-4) to “go and sin no more” (John 8:11);
- When the Samarian asked Jesus to give him the water so that she would no longer thirst (John 4:15), Jesus asked her to call her husband (John 4:16). Indeed, Jesus was pointing out an area in the woman’s life that was not right with God: she had five husbands and the one she was with at that time was not her husband (John 4:18).
3. God Used the Centurion Cornelius to Graft Gentiles into the Kingdom of God
We can look to the centurion Cornelius as another example of a soldier who was praised by God. He is highly regarded as a “devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always” (Acts 10:2), so much so that an angel of God came to him and declared that his prayers and alms “have come up for a memorial before God” (Acts 10:3-4). Cornelius is not only described as “a just man, one who fears God and has a good reputation among all the nation of the Jews,” but also as one who was “divinely instructed by a holy angel” (Acts 10:22), and who was used to bring the Gospel of Christ to the Gentiles (Acts 10:35-48).
The fact that of all of the Gentiles, God used a soldier to graft Gentiles into the Kingdom of God gives an imprimatur to the institution of the military.

Sorry for the delay in replying. I agree with the reply found here: How do pacifist Christians reconcile pacifism with with Jesus's commendation of the Roman centurion?

jocor: Are you suggesting that had the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom of Israel remained united with the two tribes of the Southern Kingdom of Judah, the Israelites would not have been conquered by the Assyrians and Babylonians?

No. I'm just saying the conquering by Assyria and Babylon was not intrinsically related to the seven nations not being annihilated.

Also, your Avatar states you are not Christian, but your posts suggest that you are. I was wondering if you could clarify as this would help me understand where you are coming from.

If I checked "Yes" for being "Christian", then I am in effect agreeing to Christian doctrine. Since I do not agree with several key Christian doctrines, I had to check "No". There was no option to state I am a "Yahwist," "Unitarian," or "Messianic Israelite."

 

[Nintentacle]

It only makes sense to interpret it literally. Jesus demonstrated it completely on the Cross.

Times of wars don't apply to that because it is a vastly different situation.

 

[john darling]

I agree with what others have shared about needing to bring context into the picture. With all these teachings of Jesus it's good to ask, why?

Why love our enemies? Why turn the other cheek? Why bless those who curse us? What are these teachings meant to achieve?

 

[jocor]

Welcome to the forum John.

I agree with what others have shared about needing to bring context into the picture. With all these teachings of Jesus it's good to ask, why?

Why love our enemies? Why turn the other cheek? Why bless those who curse us? What are these teachings meant to achieve?

Because God is love. If we truly desire to know Him, love Him and emulate Him, then we must love others, including our enemies.

1Jn 4:8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

 

[Deborah13]

jocor, Rollo, Deborah13 and the other pacifists on this forum: How would you respond to the following arguments in support of militant Christianity:

Me a pacifist? Just break into my house and threaten my family. I suppose I could name that .357, Pacifist.
I'm not entirely against war either but I am against empire building and sticky our nose in where it doesn't belong.

 

[jmt356]

Me a pacifist? Just break into my house and threaten my family. I suppose I could name that .357, Pacifist.
I'm not entirely against war either but I am against empire building and sticky our nose in where it doesn't belong.

Apologies; I meant to refer to Butch5, who in an earlier post linked to his/her paper on pacifism.

 

[john darling]

I've been thinking about what people have said, especially the part about enjoying the protections that come from other people using violence on our behalf, like police, military etc...

I'm not sure if I'm a hypocrite for this but so long as a policeman/woman was doing their job of their own accord, I would enjoy the protection they afford. However, if I were to get into a discussion with that person about it, I would definitely tell them to quit their job in favor of preaching the gospel full time(Mt 6:24-34, 1 Cor 9:7-14), living with other Christians full time in community the way the early Christians did (Acts 2:44-45) and applying Jesus' teachings on enemy loving/pacifism.

I'd had another look at the verses when thinking about my response and noticed something which I think hasn't been mentioned yet.

MT 5:43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.

MT 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

MT 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

I think verse 43 is important because Jesus deliberately makes a connection back to OT values, and then adds a "but". He's not destroying the old ways, but he is fulfilling them into a more complete picture, so we shouldn't keep going back to the old law as though the "but" isn't there.

I've included verse 45 because I believe it adds significant context. He makes this statement a follow-on from enemy loving, doing good to those who hate us and spitefully use us. God allows everyone to experience trouble.

This issue of turning the other cheek and blessing those who curse us, allowing people to do wrong to us is part of a bigger picture. It's how we show the kingdom of Heaven is different from the values of this world.

No matter how many guns we make and use, violence still happens. The other guys just find new or better ways to get around our defenses. Ultimately our protection must come from God, but even when we pray fervently he still allows bad things to happen to us. Consider the example of Job, a righteous man who put his trust in God. God quite willingly allowed Satan to take Job's family, his material wealth and afflict his body with pain but Job didn't curse God. He understood that God gives and God takes away. God was still the boss to him, no matter what.

In the pursuit of showing the values of Heaven, God will ask us to be the examples of what it means for love to overcome hate. This is why Jesus stressed so many times about counting the cost(Luke 14). He talked about laying down our lives (john 15). He talked about those who love their lives will lose them and those who hate their lives will gain them(john 12:25). In the Revelation, it says the saints overcome the Beast by "loving not their lives even unto death". In Rom 8 Paul references psalm 44, "for thy sake we are killed all the day long" when explaining how even death cannot separate us from God. He makes a connection between being "sheep for the slaughter" and doing God's will.

So much of this self defense argument is based on fear of being hurt or fear or dying. No one likes to be hurt or to be killed. I'm not judging anyone in that area, but recognizing a genuine problem that Jesus also recognized. He said we should not be afraid of what people can do to our bodies (Mt 10:28).

These bodies are temporary. We need to get an eternal vision where we recognize that death is not the end of life. We may not understand it and it may not seem to accomplish much, but the standard Jesus taught is to willingly suffer wrong without hitting back. Even if it does not inspire a single other person out there, we should still do it just because God said to do it.

Now I'm not talking about being foolish or having no care for life and I'm not suggesting that we put our own faith on to other people by volunteering them to also lay down their lives with us. I'm only suggesting that on a personal level we need to consider where our protection really comes from, and to consider that there are times when God allows us to experience pain and suffering for his own reasons.