Is Passivity and Forgiveness an Aphrodisiac for Murderers?

Since the Amish schooting, I have a href=”http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=408428in_page_id=1811″read articles such as this one/a discussing how the Amish have forgiven the killer a href=”http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20521441-23109,00.html”who took the lives /aof five beautiful girls and injured six more before taking his own life. Forgiveness may be the Amish way, but frankly, in my eyes, it gives license to the sick and twisted, and cruel among us to continue their mayhem. What is appalling a href=”http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=408428in_page_id=1811in_page_id=1811expand=true”are comments like this/a–that compare the Amish reaction to the shooting with the tragedy of 9/11 in the following way:br /br /blockquoteThe Amish show the power of forgiveness, a power that is given us by God. It’s strength is far greater than the anger and violence with which we try to right the wrongs in our world. There is a lesson to be learned here. Just imagine what could have happened if the US were capable of forgiveness after the 9/11 attacks…/blockquotebr /br /Yes, just imagine, we could have been perceived as even weaker by our enemies and further attacks might have followed, but instead, we have had nothing of the sort. Often, perpetrators can smell weakness a mile away–it is like an aphrodisiac to many of them-including terroists–even Bin Laden a href=”http://www.defenddemocracy.org/publications/publications_show.htm?doc_id=358633″has laughed at the perceived weakness /aof the US.br /br /In the case of the Amish school killer, he targeted the weakest people he could find who he knew would not fight back. I am not so sure that forgiveness and acceptance of the death of innocent girls is the answer to reducing future acts of violence such as the Amish shooting–in my eyes, it gives license to the next killer that he will be forgiven for his atrocities–yes, I understand that the Amish feel that what happens is God’s will and that a violent reaction is against their religion–I am speaking to the rest of us. br /br /In addition, this perception of weakness is enhanced with calls for gun control and passivity in response to violent acts. But perhaps reducing violent acts and protecting our citizens is not the point, but rather, it is feeling morally superior and denying the acts of the sick and twisted, or terrorists or other perps, for political gain–rather that be gun control, or a call for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq. Passive solutions in response to violent actions can often bring more violence, not less. But passivity is most alluring to the most “humanitarian” among us, as with it, comes a very seductive psychological satisfaction–little call for responsibility and accountability, while feeling morally superior–even if it means that the next murderer will flourish in our midst.