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How does Jesus's view of pacifism ("do not resist an evil person", "turn the other cheek", "I want mercy, not sacrifices", and "do not repay evil with evil") line up with the country's court systems and justice in general?

  1. Why if someone kills my child and then I kill him, it is a sinful "revenge", but if brought to court and imprisoned it is not a sin? Isn't sentencing someone to lifetime prison for example "repaying with evil", too? What if the prisoner really repents and changes his life, but they never let him out and let him die there?

  2. Why if I kill someone evil to stop him because he is a serial killer? Am I sinning because I am "resisting"?

  3. What should I do if someone attacks me or my family and threatens their lives? Should I turn the other cheek?

  4. Why is it a sin to stop (kill) someone who is well known evil person (e.g. drug dealer, killer, or rapist), but he is paying the court system and he never gets caught and sentenced? Why are we supposed to tolerate that? Because "it is not our job"? Did God appoint "jobs" only to certain people to seek justice and protect their neighbors?

We are the image of God, we are supposed to dominate the planet and keep everything in place. In many occasions, evil can be stopped only with the death of the evil persons doing it. How is that supposed to work if we are also supposed to be like "sheep sent amongst wolves"?

agarza
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CuriousGuy
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    This is a great and classic question. Unfortunately, it is likely to be closed as "primarily opinion-based." I will therefore restrain myself from answering it, as much as I'd love to. However, you might be interested in an article I posted on this general subject a decade ago: Can Christians be Hardass? – Lee Woofenden Jan 07 '23 at 08:46
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    This is a sociological question for the world to consider for itself. Jesus instructs those who have repented, been baptised and follow Him : as to their behaviour. That is a matter within the Church. Criminals should be removed from the Church for judicial procedure by the authorities. Courts ought to be guided by the Mosaic law and the example installed in Israel by God almighty, and to some extent they have been in past history. I have voted for closure as 'sociological'. The question asks multiple questions about various scenarios which ought to be dealt with under separate headings. – Nigel J Jan 07 '23 at 08:56
  • I can see the value of this question in trying to bring together 5 aspects of living which the Bible has a lot to say that need to be integrated as a coherent and unified teaching: justice, mercy, dominion, role of civil authority, right understanding of Kingdom of God. The trick is to find an appropriate and theological single heading under which these 5 aspects need to be treated, so the OP presents a single on-topic question for C.SE. – GratefulDisciple Jan 07 '23 at 12:48
  • I'd be happy to re-open this if it can get nailed down to a particular doctrine that you're asking about. Mercy as a theological (or eschatological) concept must be different between Christian denominations since some believe in Universalism and some believe in predestination – Peter Turner Jan 09 '23 at 19:50

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