Do the teachings of Jesus prohibit a Christian from practicing self defense?
Short answer... No
Long answer...
The teachings of Jesus are obviously very radical in nature. As God incarnate, demonstrating and teaching "the way." Jesus taught that as participants in His kingdom we are to:
"Love our neighbors as ourselves."
"Do unto others as we would have done unto us."
"Turn the other cheek."
"Love our enemies, bless those who persecute us, do good to those who spitefully use us."
Some look at these statements and I believe wrongfully assume that Jesus is stating that self defense in any form is wrong.
True, Jesus is telling us that as His followers, the way we deal with our enemies is going to be radically different than the way the world deals with enemies. But that does not negate the idea of self defense (especially the use of non-lethal weapons such as pepper spray, stun guns, or a Taser C2).
When Jesus made the statements above, He was addressing people who were living under the oppressive rule of the Roman government.
He was basically giving them a prescription for dealing with Romans who were occupying Hebrew territory. He was not giving instructions about defending yourself from a street thug, protecting your family from violence, preserving innocent children from abuse, or intervening when a woman is being assaulted.
He didn't say, "If you are a woman being raped just go with it."
Nor did He say, "If someone comes at you with a knife let them cut you."
The command was not, "If you are struck on one side of the head with a baseball bat, turn the other side."
Jesus intent was not that anyone stand idly by watching an innocent person being victimized.
His desire is that we love others the way we love ourselves and that we do into others what we would want done to us. I believe that calls us to a high standard. A standard which requires us to intervene when a person is being harmed in any way. After all, wouldn't you want someone to come to your aid?
I've heard too many stories about a person being harmed while a crowd stood and watched... without doing anything. That should never be.
Ask yourself a simple question as you put yourself in the shoes of the victim: "Would I want someone to help me if I was the victim."
What's the answer? Yes!!!!
That is why I believe it is vitally important for every individual to learn a little bit about self defense and at the very least to carry pepper spray, a Taser, or high voltage stun gun.
What would Jesus do? He would come to the aid of the victim.
How about you?
