Violence + violence = more violence

It is much harder to end them. Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Ukraine--these wars tell us that. When we hear Jesus say, "You have heard it said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,' but I say to you, 'Do not seek revenge against your neighbor,'" I suspect Jesus wasn't just being a starry-eyed idealist. He was being a straight-forward realist. An eye-for-an-eye just multiplies the eyes that are removed. Violence heaped upon violence just gives us more violence. And frequently, that cycle goes on and on and on.