On Tuesday, December 16, 2014 Taliban soldiers entered a Pakistani school with the intent of killing innocent children. They allegedly entered this school armed with machine guns, hand grenades and suicide vests. These men gunned down children hiding under benches, opened fire on students as they took their exams and allegedly lined up children to shoot them dead. In the end, these men killed a total of 145 people, 132 of whom were innocent children. They physically wounded over 100 more victims.
These killings allegedly took place for the sake of revenge.
Revenge is a powerful emotion that pulls people into doing outrageous, hurtful acts to fellow human beings. This event is just another reminder of revenge’s heartbreaking destructiveness. Whether we are talking about taking revenge on a spouse for cheating, shooting up a school for political reasons or harming someone who has harmed one’s family, revenge is often an impulsive act that has far-reaching consequences.
Harming another because you feel they have harmed you creates a potentially never-ending cycle of harm and abuse. At what point has there been enough revenge? Gang violence is all about revenge—“you killed my homey, now we get to kill your entire family.” Throughout the ages men and women scorned by their lovers have sought revenge by killing them, running them over and even killing their family members. At what point has the “payback” been sufficient? Is it a life for a life? Is it a school for a school? Is it an entire town for the loss of one? What is enough revenge?
Revenge is a malicious response to a real or perceived hurt. It can be methodically planned or impulsively carried out. Either way the damage left in its wake can often alter lives forever. Revenge does not take away the original hurt; it simply causes more hurt.
The fact that these men can think for a moment that killing innocent children is okay, justified or necessary is sickening and tragic. Don’t ever fall into that type of mindset. Don’t ever allow someone else’s actions to lead you to become someone you’re not, to go against the basic code of humanity or to allow you to justify in any way your own hurtful actions bv citing the actions of others.
The heart wrenching crime committed on the children in Pakistan is indefensible—no matter how much anyone tries to rationalize it in their mind. Defense minister Khawaja Asif stated, “The smaller the coffin, the heavier it is to carry.” This is a sad truth. If terrorists, lay people, gang members, men and women continue to up the ante when it comes to revenge we will destroy our world before our eyes. Would that be enough revenge?
Challenge: Seeking to harm someone as much as they harmed you is not the answer–it is part of the problem. If you’ve been harmed, seek out a solution that reduces the damage done, not one that causes more damage.
(http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/17/world/asia/pakistan-peshawar-school-attack/index.html?hpt=wo_c2 )