Essays on the Main/About Violence

About Violence

Consider one another as more important than yourselves! (Phil 2:3) — this is one of the most important Divine Commandments in relation to us.

But how rarely people remember it! And of those who do remember it — how few actually strive to perform it!

But it is one of the foundations of humility!

Why is this humility necessary?

Well, without it, one cannot approach the Creator by the quality of oneself-soul, one cannot cognize Him, and one cannot merge with Him!

Only vices will grow in us if we do not strive for humility!

And humility is comprehended only against the background of the development of oneself as a spiritual heart.

* * *

Humility in people is opposite to violence.

The possession of violence does not allow one to learn to dissolve oneself in the harmony of the beautiful Creation created by God, and in the future — in the Blissful Harmony of the Creator Himself.

Violence must be carefully monitored and destroyed in oneself!

The desire to command others and criticize them is one of the most striking manifestations of violence.

The desire to beat, kill, humiliate, ridicule, slander, and mock others for fun or self-interest — are also manifestations of violence.

The desire to appropriate something that belongs to someone else through theft, robbery, or fraud — is such a manifestation of this vice as well.

So too is military usurpation of foreign territories.

Violence in sexual relations, including the desire to control another person because of one’s jealousy, is also a typical manifestation of violence.

So too is tedium.

Some other forms of violence are:

— Intimidation in the sphere of interpersonal relations.

Threats.

Swearing at someone.

Interstate terrorism.

Aggressive nationalism (nazism, fascism).

The manifestation of arrogance in connection with the positions or ranks one holds, or with one’s belonging to one or another branch of religion.

For God, our earthly titles, positions, and awards — do not matter! For Him, something else is important in us, namely: purification from vices and development of positive qualities.

* * *

There are, however, some rare cases in which we may be forced to use coercion, such as when raising children — when such “coercion” is used not with violence, but as a form of love-care. There are also such exemptions in the fight against specific violent criminals.

But at the same time, let us be vigilant ourselves: violence should not “grow into the soul”: it must not become one of the properties of the soul.