Even Gandhi Threw Rocks
by Phil Weaver-Stoesz
Comments for Even Gandhi Threw Rocks
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Angie
I think that it was important for you to discover violence for yourself and come to the understanding that it was not for the best. I feel that parents who don't leave this as a choice often do more harm then good as they push their child away from them and their core values but the choice leads the child to follow his/her teachings and make the moral decision on their own.
Samuel Jones
Great story Phil. My story was much the opposite however. My parents were very strict about violence with people but they did not regard it as something that can be removed from living all together the way that yours did.
It's also kind of a hard society out here in rural South Dakota though. People aren't the only things that beat you down out here. Work and weather can scratch a toughness into one's bones that doesn't exist without that kind of experience.
My dad has never been a "turn the other cheek" kind of person. My mom on the other hand is. As for me, I've landed somewhere in the "blocking" process. I don't believe in letting someone strike me. I believe God made us the way we are to interact and in some cases, letting someone hit you twice doesn't actually ignite the revelation that they are in the wrong. It only lets them know that they can do it again if they want to and sometimes they do. I am not a believer of unnecessary violence and I have come 360 degrees in analyzing that after marrying my Mennonite wife who was raised much more like you. Even with that interaction though, I still believe violence is an aspect of human nature and it is part of the world. I support violent video games because they are a primary outlet for my violent nature. I think it is ingenious that we have created a virtual outlet (not just video games but other outlets as well) to express a potentially harmful characteristic of our being.
I, like you, destroyed a building with my cousin when I was little. We were allowed to though. It was an old trailer house and I relished the feeling of throwing my rebar spear through the plaster walls. Unlike you however, I walked away feeling refreshed. The experience wasn't near as important or prominent as yours was (most of my violent experiences weren't) and I believe that is because my parents raised me showing what violence was. Then they taught me its effects. Most importantly, they let me experience its variances. I learned what it felt like to strike someone in a playground fight at a very young age. I saw the hurt in their eyes at what I had done to them. I have maybe been in three fights total my whole life and sure, that may be three more than you, but based off of my exposure to that kind of violence it is quite a feat. Many of my friends or classmates got in a fight at least a couple times a year if not a month.
Samuel Jones
I visited with my parents about these experiences. They shared theirs. I feel comfortable now as a young adult, in the reactions I might take in any given circumstance. Mennonites get bombarded with the typical questions about "Would you let someone shoot your family or would you shoot them to stop them?" and I really think that those are circumstantial instances where instinct knows better, and so does God. I don't reply that yes i would shoot him implanting that violence in my head, and I don't reply no, possibly neglecting what God may have driven me to do. God does act among us, and I believe that in some crazy circumstance like that, but not training my heart one way or the other but by training it to be aware of how it feels, it will shine clearly and I can follow it.
To me, your brother and you followed an inner drive to destroy something. Your actions left you with experience to think about. That you felt bad, I could not say was right or wrong, but only wonder if they were entirely driven by your own hearts assessment, or if they were driven by the type of environment you were raised in.
I felt bad kicking in the door to my mom's smoking room and yanking the cigarette out of here hand and breaking it but only because I was punished for it and scolded. In my heart, I felt good. I continued to break those cigarettes too.
Samuel Jones
Btw, I love your title.