Core Beliefs

In order to understand my viewpoint on current national politics I think it is useful to know a few of my core beliefs.

1. From a moral standpoint, I believe that killing another human being is wrong whether the killing is state sanctioned or not. If I were in a situation where I had to kill another person or be killed myself would I have the courage not to kill? Maybe not. Hopefully I will never need to find out. However, most state sanctioned killing is premeditated and avoidable so I will never sanction or support it.

2. To quote Desmond Tutu: "Anything war can do, peace can do better". So there is also no reason to kill from a practical standpoint. Although we may achieve the money, land or power that we desire through war, the unintended consequences are always worse than the gains. All war and violence is avoidable. Whatever we need to accomplish we can always do through peaceful means.

3. I also believe that non-lethal violence against other humans is unnecessary. Other than defending yourself against someone who jumps out at you from a dark alley, most violence can be avoided. And I assume that if I knew more about aikido I could probably avoid that as well.