Member-only story
What Does It Mean to Behave?
The future of our country depends on it…
My father and boyhood friend Charles were national debate champions. I admire their ability to use logic, and intelligence, with just the right amount of rhetoric, passion, and wit.
I was no debate champ but had a decent ability to use creative storytelling to convince others I had the better argument. Yet I remember a fellow classmate saying I shouldn’t think I’m smarter just cause I talk better.
When I asked this fellow student what other way besides words we should use to figure out who was right, he held up his fist. I suggested if violence determines who’s right and wrong, only physically strong, mostly men, would win every argument — or those with the biggest guns.
This friend and I ended up in a circular argument where I said violence is wrong and he said sometimes it’s worth it.
And for a short period of time, this hurley, bulky, muscular friend of mine was getting the better part of the argument. He gave me examples of self-defense, wars that were righteous and justified, and even an anecdote of a student punching a priest in the face who was abusing him.
The best retort I could think of was to tell him that violence doesn’t ultimately solve anything but more importantly, it’s bad behavior. At that point, he smirked —…
