Originally Posted by Fire

the cycle of violence can have a start and an end- the murderer in my personal example started it by killing two innocent people- it will end with his death, hopefully when he runs out of appeals.... but if allowed to I would end his life in a heartbeat- to use your analogy you have to believe that vengeance is evil - that to want to harm those that harm you is wrong- I have never, and will never, subscribe to a philosophy of turning the other cheek, because it does not work- stupid violence and over-reactive revenge is are a bad idea, but if harmed I will feel quite justified in harming someone back within reasonable proportion, indeed more than they harmed me- as this will tend to prevent further injury to me. I stress again that vigilanteeism is not what I advocate, nor reprisals out of proportion with the crime- but revenge is perfectly acceptable to me on principal and in practice......