What would it be like if instead of sacrificing 3,000 more precious lives (not to mention who knows how many Iraqi lives), we just said "we forgive you"?
I know, you'll say the Amish are different. They help their neighbors and don't need to go "spread democracy" and don't use that much oil.
Wouldn't it be something though? "We forgive you". Al Quaeda would be taken aback. They had expected us to go after them. But forgiveness just takes all the wind out of their sails.
Everyone knows how to hit back when hit. It's instinctive. But it's also instinctive to feel remorse and to pause and calm down and change when you hit someone and they calmly say "you did wrong, let's talk about this". You can't help but feel respect for them.
When that disturbed individual killed those Amish school children. The Amish immediately said "we forgive him". Bam! It's over. No tit for tat. Instant respect.
When we hold back and show restraint we show strong principles; we show true courage; we say "I'm much stronger than you but violence will only lead to misery so let's work this out."
I like Obama because he shows such measured restraint. Both in and out of the debates, he shows consistency and self-control and decency. He's someone who undoubtedly faced hatred and attacks before and has decided to take the civil approach.
So when the red phone rings, Obama has a life time of well earned wisdom and well honed character to rely on. He will not need to take time and check what the pollsters say.
I say human problems need human solutions.
Thanks for reading.