Cowards and Consequences

I never had much use for Kenny Rogers.  "The Gambler" was not a bad song the first couple of times I heard it.  After a few hundred times, I got pretty sick of it.  Even worse was another "story song" about a boy named Tommy whom everybody called "The Coward of the County".  Tommy's father died in prison but not before telling Tommy not to fight when it could be avoided:  "Walk away from trouble when you can."  Tommy, though, apparently a slightly brain-damaged leftist, thought that meant never to stand up for oneself.

So, Tommy is bullied, run over, and ridiculed all his life.  He meets a girl, Becky, who just loves him for who he is.  Everything is wonderful until one day the three Gatlin brothers -- I assume that's Larry, Steve, and Rudy -- show up when Tommy is at work and proceed to assault Becky.  (In the linked video, Rogers skips the rape verse.  I do not have the stomach to watch it so I'm going by the comments.)  Tommy then goes out, finds the Gatlin boys and beats them like Batman.  And everybody applauds because he did it "for Becky".  You know what?  If Tommy hadn't had a reputation as such a pus-s-s-shover, the Gatlins might have thought twice about raping his wife in the first place.  Does the fact that Tommy knocked three men unconscious really make up for that fact of his wife being terrorized, traumatized and abused? 

It's true that women may be rape victims no matter how tough their husbands are, but that's hardly the point of the song.  We're supposed to feel that Becky was victimized by Tommy's cowardice -- or rather by the misjudgment of Tommy as a coward when, in fact, Tommy was simply trying to live up to the standard of non-violence to which his dying father had called him. Nevertheless, I hardly consider it right to purchase noble principles with the blood and suffering of the weak and innocent. 

There is a lesson in this that would be beneficial on many levels, from the international to the personal.  My father, too, told me to walk away from trouble whenever possible, adding, however, "You never have to take a whipping -- except from me."  As it turned out, I actually had very few fights that weren't, more or less, for fun.  A person who is looking to beat up, intimidate, or humiliate someone else generally does not pick a person who looks capable of and/or willing to put up a decent resistance.  There are exceptions.  Sometimes some people take extra convincing. 

Bullies are never stopped by success. 

This is not a great insight on my part.  Why would anyone think otherwise?  Whether you are a citizen dealing with a street thug, a citizenry dealing with a police state, or a nation dealing with financial pirates, the longer you let the bullies go, the harder it is to convince them to stop.

The more we beg Islam's pardon for our offenses against them, the more we try to bow and submit to their demands, the more outrageous those demands are going to become.  The same is true for Israel, and it has been proven over and over again for more than sixty years.  The only way to stop this nonsense is to draw the line hard and fast and viciously.  The only danger to airplanes is from Muslims.  You all can ride a camel wherever you need to go or submit to profiling.  Period.  Everybody else can take their soda and their Swiss Army Knives and wear their boots.  Muslims will be given a shower, an enema, and a hospital gown and board in little paper booties.

Then you have the case of George Zimmerman.  Last week the persecution prosecution essentially admitted that Zimmerman shot Martin while having his head beaten against the concrete; however, they argued, Zimmerman's injuries were not "life-threatening".  I suppose that means a woman should allow herself to be "legitimately raped" or "rape-raped", as Whoopi Goldberg might say, before she shoots her attacker?  Or maybe she should just go along with it.  That's probably Hillary Clinton's view, because, after all, what difference does it make?

To be perceived as cowardly and subject to victimization is to become a victim.  Unless we are willing to resist evil, evil will have its way. 

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:21)