Solomon's advise for dealing with scornful people has three steps. The
first step is to try counseling with them in private, one on one.
Failing that, the second step is to counsel with them again, but with
two people, together, advising the third. The final step is to cease
relations.
Solomon's three steps are seen today in practical statesmanship. We
should remember that today's enemy is tomorrow's friend. Member
nations of the United Nations generally apply this same three-step
plan that ends in economic sanctions being applied by the United
Nations as a whole. Sometimes even ceasing relations with another is
not enough and force of arms must be taken to protect weaker neighbors
from aggression.
Whether with neighbors or nations, armed conflict is ultimately
sorrowful. It is an admission that patient diplomacy and logic have
not been successful. It is premeditated violence to protect the weak.
Many people, still developing in religious maturity and understanding,
feel torment when violence is necessary, because their religious
understanding does not extend beyond helping "all" others. It is a
question of who is helped and why. Some people too choose to pass from
this life as martyrs. Others feel compelled to stay until the end and
protect the weak like a shepherd keeping predatory dogs away from the
helpless lambs. There may be a time for each course of action.
The confusion between religion and forcing our will on others is
caused by our understanding of what helping others means.
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