While I can comprehend what you say, I don't really understand it completely presuming a situation like this. As you say, he thought he was going to die and (perhaps more importantly) he thought his wife was going to die unless he did something and you would feel no guilt nor lose any sleep.HerbM wrote:[quote="The Annoyed Man"]I found interesting his comments about his own anguish in the aftermath of it. On another board, I was once ridiculed for saying that I would feel bad about it if I had to kill another man, but this gentleman expressed my own viewpoint pretty accurately. I would hate to have to do it, but I would do what I have to do to survive. I don't think my conscience would bother me, because the self-defense is absolutely justifiable, and I don't think I would lose any sleep on that account. But, I do think that I would be pretty shaken up, and that I would feel the same kind of anguish and sorrow over having to kill someone as this man does. Note that he said he was a combat veteran, and he was just doing what he'd been trained to do. Lots of good men come out of combat with clear consciences over what they've had to do, but anguished none the less over having had to do it.
I think that is a good thing, otherwise there's not a lot to separate me from people like the two blackhearts he had to shoot.
So what is to hate? That two violent criminals left some citizen no choice but to refuse to let his wife die by their hand.
Anything I say is based solely on supposition from self-knowledge, since until a real incident happens we don't really know how we will feel, but I hope that it would be the same amount of anguish as I feel right now. They are dead. I didn't cause it. I feel a lot worse for the two little girls who were murdered in OK this week, or those children who are dying around the world.
It doesn't matter who ended the career of these two violent, murderous criminals -- you, me, him -- that person had no choice so it doesn't matter to me emotionally who does it. It deserves no more hate than killing dinner, or putting down a favorite but terminal horse or pet who is in extreme pain.
[I say it doesn't matter emotionally since it would definitely matter from a practical point of view dealing with all the details and stresses of the aftermath that are external.]
Now, I am all about logic and rationality, but that it just me.
Since most people are not so logically focused, perhaps you are right that it would affect most people in a highly negative emotional way and that it is better they share your feelings.[/quote]
It's easy for everyone to sit back an darm chair quarter back and say they could kill a person, even one that was intent on harming or killing you. But in the end, we are not cold callous murderers, which is why we are the good guys. It's human nature to be remorseful of killing someone, even in defense. Admitting it is not a sign of weakness, it's a sign of understanding and rational thought. IF you can kill someone and not give 2 squirts of piss about it, you have some other issues to work out.