Why give him the chance to turn the other cheek and become a saint?

Question

Why give him the chance to turn the other cheek and become a saint? Hit him and tell him simultaneously,'I do not believe in violence, hence I have to stop it at the first chance. And remember that you cannot just be violent without being prevented.'

You have to prevent violence if you respect life.

And in another way too, it is respectful to hit the man, not to give him your other cheek, because that is very disrespectful. This may seem a little difficult for you: you hit me, and I don't hit you but show my other cheek to you, and say, "Please be kind enough to hit me." I am trying to be superhuman and reduce you below humanity.

I am humiliating you far more than I can humiliate you by hitting you. By hitting you I simply declare you are human, I am human, and I speak the same language that you speak. We are both on the same ground. This is more respectful because you are not raising yourself higher; you are keeping yourself on the same ground as the other man.

Answer 1

1. If someone is already using force, or stronger people outnumbering a defenseless person, yes, you may need to rely on force or greater numbers to break up and stop the violence or abuse.

2. However, if you can confront people before a conflict becomes a physical confrontation, that is where verbal interaction and wisdom and rebuke can stop violent or abusive attitudes to prevent any need or expression of anger or violence.

3. To turn the other cheek, means to ask someone that if you are going to rebuke me, address me as an equal peer. Instead of a "backhanded slap," reserved only for slaves or noncitizens, Jesus said to turn the cheek where you would have to be recognized as a fellow citizen (forward slap).

This was the cultural tradition back in those days. The equivalent today is people addressing each other as equal citizens with equal rights as human beings, and not dividing people as noncitizens, vs. citizens, vs. government, vs. corporations etc. with different levels or standards of rights.

So if people "petition" each other civilly to "redress grievances" or conflicts with the SAME respect for the law as in government, there is no need for slapping or violence or threat of force which happens if you do NOT resolve the conflict in advance and it escalates into a security issue.

4. I agree you must prevent violence to preserve and respect life. That is why I would advocate redressing grievances and conflicts "civilly" with wisdom and correction, so that no violence or abuse occurs in the future.

References:
1. Christianity, Bible Scriptures Matthew 18:15-20, Matthew 5:44, James 5:16
2. Constitutional laws, Amendment 1-10 and Amendment 14
3. Islamic teachings from Mohammed that if you do not first make peace with your brother, then your acts of goodness/charity mean nothing. This is also Biblical, to make peace with your brother before offering to God. And in Islam, charity is required to be a faithful follower and not an infidel. So that peace is required to be a true Muslim. You cannot hate your brother and say you love God.

Note: You are right that you can and should address your neighbor as an equal speaking the same language. Whatever religion you must speak to communicate, there is a natural law to wish the same for your neighbor as for yourself, and not to wish negative. So the ideal would be to teach both yourself and your neighbor to be as humble and respectful to one another as even the saints. So why would you NOT wish both you and your neighbor to act with honor? If you respect life, wouldn't you want all people to be noble as saints?

Answer 2

OK, I am all set. Who is "him". Does this work with females also?