You DO know the good Samaritan would not have had to help the traveler... if the traveler had been prepared to defend himself from the robbers....?
Speaking for myself, I find quite a number of firearm designs fascinating, particularly those of historic interest and genius. One of my favorite, the wheellock.
What makes a better good samaritan? One stopping to help one who is in need of being helped? Or one not needing another to stop and become involved to help them in the first place?
No, what is ridiculous is just how thoroughly you missed the point. Kindness to others, stopping to help someone who has been injured, watching over them to make sure they reach safety and medical treatment, are all important. I'm not saying people never need help.... but I AM saying that being self-reliant and capable of taking care of yourself - AND of defending yourself if necessary - are just as important, if not more so.
Sadly left-wingers often outsource most personal duties to the government. And are offended if you suggest that things like personal defense are primarily an individual responsibility.
The way they think in regards to this issue is just anathema to everything I was ever taught to believe in.
I guy I knew years ago was non-political from what I gathered but one day he noted "there are two kinds of people in the world. those who think you have a duty to take care of yourself and those who think it is someone else's responsibility. The former vote GOP, the latter are dems"
Some things I was taught, I wouldnt teach my own kids. Just because you are taught doesnt make it best practice especially when time changes things. Racism is one example- in the 1960's here in Oz racism against aboriginees was normal, now not acceptable yet my fathers gen taught it.
Some posters here might not have read the whole thread. The conclusion I came to following superb, educational and tactful replies from An Taibhse was that a/ the environment and gun culture has been going for so long in the US that self defense there cannot be compared to most other countries b/ that some guns not classified as semi auto can be reloaded and fired almost as quick as semi auto c/ that if existing gun laws were enforced particularly against convicted career criminals the mass shooting would reduce...and so on. So by all means quote me from earlier posts but I'd like to point out, as previous, that I dont mind being educated on a country I've not visited, am not stubborn and can see why pro gunners like the choice of defense by firearms. My resolve- that of joining the bandwagon to reduce mass shooting like Vegas/Columbine continues and more commitment from pro gunners to that cause (with no gun law change) would be welcome as would anti gun people learn to accept that firearms is part of American life. Dont like it? Come to Australia, the land where, for example, I have personal defense in the form of a jack handle in my trunk...been there for 30 years, never needed it.
So your takeaway from the parable of the Good Samaritan is that the traveler wasn't self-reliant? How ridiculous.
I have personal defense in the form of a brain between my ears...been there all my life, use it all the time.
I hope you never need it as well. I look at self defense the same way as I look at all life skills... the more I know, the more prepared I am, the better the tools I have at my disposal, the better my chances for survival and the better the chance I have to help others. Everything is a trade off and there are risks and rewards that must be balanced. When thinking on events like Vegas, it’s easy to be swayed by the tragedy and the horror, but solutions don’t always come in simple reactions without considering the the range of effects when selecting among those solutions, and choices for selecting a range of remedies are not universal, but, the risk/reward and corollary effects are highly dependent on a large number of factors, who, what, and where. Lot’s human factors, culture, history, practicality, etc., and the importance of intangibles like liberty, individual freedom, fairness, justice, etc. My solutions were different being raised in Belfast than here in the US. They were different when I worked in the EU, Central and South America. They would be different if I lived in NZ or AU.
Yet, the right wing is too Lazy to muster to save on the cost of our alleged wars on crime, drugs, and terror and prefer to be lazy instead of "work hard" and muster.
I was taught independence, self-reliance, and personal responsibility; three things sadly lacking in too many people these days.
