I’ll Drop That F**ker!!!

If anyone thinks there is some value to fighting, I’ll have to insist there isn’t. For some reason, people seem to think “standing their ground” or “not taking shit” is worth bludgeoning a man to the ground. Everyone understands and detests pain, and yet people are willing to intentionally inflict it on others for their own good, and perhaps enjoyment. What’s more, is that overcoming the resistance to harm another man is glorified within  the fighting community, and maintaining the reluctance to do so earns someone a label of “pussy.” I myself have been called a “pussy” for my choice to avoid violence, a term which implies I am afraid to get hurt. The truth of the matter is I feel there is no cause worth punishing a man’s face.

It also seems like fighting seems to become only a way to prove who’s more“bad ass” in some cases, an accomplishment that’s sadly really only resultant of physical fitness. I had someone threaten to “beat me up” in 8th grade, solely on the grounds that he believed that I thought I was cooler than I was, going from what he said. Here my ego (regardless of how accurate it was at the time) had nothing to do with him, and still there was some reason to fight me.

The aforementioned arguments, involving you “not take shit” or “stand your ground” are respectable in that it conveys to your enemies that you will not be taken advantage of, but after a fight, this achievement is only obtained at the expense of someone’s well being, a feat which succeeds only in making you a selfish asshole. Even though I’m a Christian, and I consciously try to put others before myself, I don’t see why non-Christians as well couldn’t employ some self-control, forgiveness, and genuine altruism.

Even on the other end, as a victim of muscle-head on a mission to prove his “macho,” I’ll maintain non-violence is the preferable option. Amidst a slew of thrown punches, I’d try to block and move away as best I can, and only if I really cannot begin to deter my own harm would I consider throwing one of my own.

And yes sometimes a serious talk would fail as the only other option to violence (although I have to say this in combination with unexpected kindness most always works in less extreme conditions), but maybe the notion of revenge could be disregarded altogether. Leave your assailant’s justice to karma, out of your own hands, (literally) and be the bigger man.