*clap clap clap clap*Diogenes wrote:GW Johnson wrote: So, in my book, Barry Goldwater was dead wrong in 1964. Extremism is not only a terrible vice, it is the most pernicious evil humanity has ever faced, all through the millennia. I see way too much of it in public discourse here in the states, including some of these conversations here in this forum. That fills me with sadness, and a great fear for our future. It is the wrong path.
It's good to know that you don't want any "extremism" in defense of YOUR life, liberty or property. I personally feel that compromising on certain issues like being raped, killed or imprisoned is simply not acceptable.
The Founders were extremists. The Abolitionists were extremists. Both instigated wars that forged the decent aspects of this nation.
How about Martin Luther and his Ninety-Five Theses nailed to the Church door? After all, we wouldn't want anyone to get "extreme" about the selling of indulgences.
How about the Magna Carta? King John forced to sign by a bunch of extremists.
Lincoln was an extremist.
Thank you. That was very well put.
To expand this to the rest of the world: Richard Wurmbrand was living in Romania, minding his own business, when the Nazis invaded. A few years later, the Communists invaded, kicking out the Nazis. Years later, he was on his way to Church to preach (he was a pastor) and he was abducted by the secret police, thrown into solitary confinement, beaten, tortured, etc. His family was told he was dead.
All in all he spent 14 years in a Communist prison. His plight was not uncommon. As a matter of fact, his plight was so common that nearly every family under Communist rule had *someone* who had been abducted and put in jail.
Now, if a group of private individuals got together, pooled their resources, and staged a rescue operation to break into those jail cells, killing any guards who opposed them, that's EXTREMISM. Are they wrong to do that? Absolutely not. As a matter of fact, I would hope if I were privy to such information, that I would have the courage to risk my life to free those people. And were you in that jail cell, I would hope you wished for someone to do the same for you.