Does that sound like a contradiction? It did to me . . . until I read something by Charles Williams (1886 - 1945), the esteemed friend of C.S. Lewis, and a member of the famed "Inklings." A couple of weeks ago I happened to dip into Williams' book, The Forgiveness of Sins, and came upon these shocking words:
Must we, for example, consent that men, the other men, shall be killed and maimed? The answer to that is simple-- we must.
Williams explains:
We may do it by ourselves inflicting death and torment on others (by bombs or however), or we may do it by abandoning others to death and torment (in concentration camps or wherever), but one way or the other we have to consent by our mere acts. To call the one war and the other peace does not help.
He goes on:
This--whichever it is--is certainly, in part, the result of what we do. Is there any direction? Even to quote "Thou shalt not kill" does not finally help, for we have been taught that consciously to abandon men to death is, in fact, to kill. To hate is to kill; to kill is to kill; and to leave to be killed is to kill. . .
Me: I am still pondering these words. Do others have responses to offer?
(The quotes above are from chapter VI, "The Technique of Pardon.")