| I don't know much about this, but it seems to me that it begins with making a decision about whether you prefer gentleness or aggressiveness and then defending that which you believe to be better or right. If you just go with the flow, and the flow (all around you) is war/aggressiveness, then you aren't being true to your beliefs. And, if you believe that in the end right will prevail, then you should defend your beliefs by insisting on passivity: engaging the warrior by refusing to fight. Choosing what you believe is the moral high ground and not budging.
I guess I believe that there are times for aggressive behavior, if choosing to be pacifist and defending that choice aggressively can be considered aggressive.
This is making my brain hurt, but I think it goes to the heart of the conundrum of raising moral kids. You want them to be moral, but not pushovers. You want to instill enough drive and strength that they will "fight" for what they believe is right and what they want to accomplish. But not so much that they are bullies with no concern for those they push out of the way to get where they want to go. |