Righteousness Of Strength

2025-07-10

I have been listening to a podcast about history and thought about something interesting.

If I were to walk around a store, lets say Whole Foods, and a larger man (or woman) were to threaten me with their fists unless I give them all of my money. In the scenario I say no and they physically beat me. I break my nose, and bleed onto the floor of Whole Foods, and once I am submitted they take all of my money and leave. Eventually I gather myself and go home. I think that most people here would feel a little bad for me, some bully beat me up and took my money. I appreciate the cops and laws that prevent people from physically destroying me and taking my money. This was bad luck for me, and too bad.

But in the distant past, I am actually not sure where this mentally changes in the US. If I lived in Roman times, around the birth of Christ, and I went to the market in Jerusalem, and I got beat up and my money taken. I assume the average person would think, ‘No shit you got your ass kicked, you gotta get stronger or carry a knife or something’. The strong deserve what the meek have.

I think the shift from the old thinking to the new thinking is the advantage of law and order, and ‘civilized’ thinking. I assume there are some lawless places in the US where they have the old mentality, but I do think it is some mark of progress that we have the new mentality.

I hope we can continue to move towards real righteousness, justice, and fairness. I don’t want to become a society of wimps but I also don’t want to live in Sparta or anything like that.