Hi y'all
My confusion stems from Jesus' statement where he exhorted christians to "Turn the other cheek". I know he was advising us to be meek, patient. e.t.c
But to what extent?

Should I allow myself to be cheated time and time again without protesting?
Am I allowed to protect myself from violators?
Should i not defend myself if attacked? and if I retaliate when attacked, am I still a Christian?

your thoughts on this please.

@Poster: coolruler, it simply means "turn the other cheek", the expression that is. you dealt a hand that is too heavy to carry, but you must carry it. no way for you to shunt it, otherwise you have disobeyed the commander who said "turn the other cheek!" you must at least volunteer for a second cheating, vioation, abuse, etc, and oh indeed, slapping of the "other cheek" which you must turn!

you cant complain, because it is a sign of intending to disobey or reluctancy at accepting the order to turn the other cheek! whats so funny about all of this is that you already know that it is unnatural to subject yourself into all of these abuse, the reason you put all the many questions up for some guy who is going to beg the questions pretends as if he is answering and change the whole thing to some silly process of argument! look, just like the idea of turn the other cheek, however you slice it does not make sense, it is the way the idea of three gods to be in One God does not make sense!

now you know how impractical it is to turn the other cheek. it is impossible to allow the like of mike tyson in his hay days slap you in anger and full force behind it, and after you recover from the long daze, "turn the other cheek" to him to now slap you down, with a ferocious force that may have a disastrous outcome for you.


let me tell you, you will be the joke of the century for turning the other cheek, because you called it on yourself. i wonder if your god asked you to do something this unreal, impractiable, unnatural, inhuman to yourself and dangerous to your health, which is obvios, how many things are in the bible with one or more of the qualties that i listed?

Coolruler,

Turning the other cheek simply means that if you are wronged, do not seek revenge but leave it to God. It does not mean to not protect yourself and become a pushover allowing yourself to be continually cheated and mistreated or physically harmed without defending yourself. The basic concept of Jesus' words was to simply not seek revenge for a wrongdoing.

JeSoul

I think you are the most stupid person in nairaland, a very useless girl, too irritating.

Lol . . . who are you? I don't think I've ever spoken or discussed with you on NL. Anyways thanks for the compliment.

olabowale:

@Poster: coolruler, it simply means "turn the other cheek", the expression that is. you dealt a hand that is too heavy to carry, but you must carry it. no way for you to shunt it, otherwise you have disobeyed the commander who said "turn the other cheek!" you must at least volunteer for a second cheating, vioation, abuse, etc, and oh indeed, slapping of the "other cheek" which you must turn!

you cant complain, because it is a sign of intending to disobey or reluctancy at accepting the order to turn the other cheek! whats so funny about all of this is that you already know that it is unnatural to subject yourself into all of these abuse, the reason you put all the many questions up for some guy who is going to beg the questions pretends as if he is answering and change the whole thing to some silly process of argument! look, just like the idea of turn the other cheek, however you slice it does not make sense, it is the way the idea of three gods to be in One God does not make sense!

now you know how impractical it is to turn the other cheek. it is impossible to allow the like of mike tyson in his hay days slap you in anger and full force behind it, and after you recover from the long daze, "turn the other cheek" to him to now slap you down, with a ferocious force that may have a disastrous outcome for you.


let me tell you, you will be the joke of the century for turning the other cheek, because you called it on yourself. i wonder if your god asked you to do something this unreal, impractiable, unnatural, inhuman to yourself and dangerous to your health, which is obvios, how many things are in the bible with one or more of the qualties that i listed?

Olabowale

you are slowly turning into Boko haram

@coolruler - I think you already have the answer to ur question looking at the replies here. However i would like to add a few bites.

Should I allow myself to be cheated time and time again without protesting?

The key word in ur question is "allow". No you do not have to allow urself to be cheated. The verse is about meekness, humility, non-retaliation and leaving vengance for the Lord. You can choose not to "allow" people to take advantage of you.

Am I allowed to protect myself from violators?

Yes u are. Protection is not Vengance, Avoidance or Self Defence is not Retaliation.

Should i not defend myself if attacked? and if I retaliate when attacked, am I still a Christian?

You can defend urself, but you cannot retaliate when attacked, and ur defence cannot include an attacking action. Retaliation is a pre-meditated action. To retaliate, you will neeed to have been attacked first, then chosen to do something back. Self Defence is simply a reaction to an active threat that protects form the attack. Remember, the word "defence" means to resist attack. It does not normally include any offensive or attacking behaviour

@olabowale Nice input. Ramadan karim

@morpheus24: how am i turning to boko haram?

@Abuzola: jazakallahu anakum khair. And Ramadhan Karim.

JeSoul:

Lol . . . who are you? I don't think I've ever spoken or discussed with you on NL. Anyways thanks for the compliment.

Ha ha ha, Honestly, i didn't mean all i said, i just wanted to test your faith of turning the other cheak,
You truely turned the other cheak by the bolded comment above, you are realy a good christian not those hypocrise like noetic2.

my applogies please.

banom:

Ha ha ha, Honestly, i didn't mean all i said, i just wanted to test your faith of turning the other cheak,
You truely turned the other cheak by the bolded comment above, you are realy a good christian not those hypocrise like noetic2.

my applogies please.

   Banom yeye boy  you were testing me? lol I was trying to think back to when I may have stepped on ur toes or something but couldn't recall any instance. Apology accepted, but if u try it again I will come and meet you in Abuja with koboko 

JeSoul:

   Banom yeye boy  you were testing me? lol I was trying to think back to when I may have stepped on your toes or something but couldn't recall any instance. Apology accepted, but if u try it again I will come and meet you in Abuja with koboko 

then @banom would have to turn the other yansh

No2Atheism:

then @banom would have to turn the other yansh

ROTFLOL  . . .  _{my dude, you're not serious, lol}

JeSoul is a true yank. She knows its all words, across the pond, sorry, ocean. By the time it hits Beantown where am sure they are mourning right now, the impact is no more a bang but a wimper! But turning the other cheek is amplified by "slap" and until that physical essence, then talk is cheap and stick and stone may be the ones to break the bones, not words! Am not advocating violence, and thats my disclaimer, my story and am sticking to it!

Aburo, how are you guys coping at the passing of the last of the prime dynasty of american politics? Am gonna call to find out how the people are reacting to the news.

Alhaji sir, how you dey? 

olabowale:

JeSoul is a true[b] yank[/b]. She knows its all words, across the pond, sorry, ocean. By the time it hits Beantown where am sure they are mourning right now, the impact is no more a bang but a wimper! But turning the other cheek is amplified by "slap" and until that physical essence, then talk is cheap and stick and stone may be the ones to break the bones, not words! Am not advocating violence, and thats my disclaimer, my story and am sticking to it!

  Please enlighten me, what is a "yank"? is that short for "yankee"? if that be the case you've got it mad twisted - I am a Red Sox 

Aburo, how are you guys coping at the passing of the last of the prime dynasty of american politics? Am gonna call to find out how the people are reacting to the news.

Coping? I hate to throw a wrench in the sentiment but if you really want to know how I am 'feeling' about Kennedy's passing, find out here.

yankee; a term used to describe every american by non-american! yankee; a term used to describe every americans from the original colonies, above the mason dixon line, by the southerners. e.g the people of atlanta saying "the yankees are coming", during the civil war! yankee; finally a term used to describe new yorkers, especially by bostonians, who are goneho on being different, thereby adopting red sox as a name for their baseball team, while far away chicago takes the name white sox for theirs.

when you go to 9ja, tell them that you are a red sox, and see the faces, scratching heads and their murmuring as they hurdle together asking themselves about you; whats this yankee saying she is again, red sox?

olabowale:

yankee; a term used to describe every american by non-american! yankee; a term used to describe every americans from the original colonies, above the mason dixon line, by the southerners. e.g the people of atlanta saying "the yankees are coming", during the civil war!

  Lol . . . Have you been talking to TOH/Karma recently? she recently fingered me as one as you have now. Alhaji no matter how far I travel or how much assimilation I've undergone, it will be always be Lagos I used to enter this world 

yankee; finally a term used to describe new yorkers, especially by bostonians, who are goneho on being different, thereby adopting red sox as a name for their baseball team, while far away chicago takes the name white sox for theirs.

  Boston all day every day lol  Yankees suck  _{no matter what the current record says}

when you go to 9ja, tell them that you are a red sox, and see the faces, scratching heads and their murmuring as they hurdle together asking themselves about you; whats this yankee saying she is again, red sox?

ROTFLOL . . .  hehe, funny, you certainly got me there

Wetin concern " turning cheek or yansh " with " Yankee " and who said we dont know the meaning of Yankee

Mr Show off

@romeo
Thanx for your answer, but that last part still has me tied up in knots.
Im allowed to defend myself if attacked, but offence is not part of my defence right?
Ok. What if a religious fanatic got me in his gunsights, and is about to bring me down? If I get ahold of my shotgun first and blast him to kingdom come, then joined up with a few brothers to go thru the neighbourhood cleaning out the f, kers, have I crossed the line?

No2Atheism:

then @banom would have to turn the other yansh

I'm sure Banom would gladly do this. In fact if his yansh was a city, Jesoul could have the keys to the city.

What if a religious fanatic got me in his gunsights, and is about to bring me down? If I get ahold of my shotgun first and blast him to kingdom come

This part is legitimate self defence, as your reaction was instinctive.

then joined up with a few brothers to go thru the neighbourhood cleaning out the f, kers, have I crossed the line?

Yes you have with this part. This is premedidated, and thus would count as vengance,revenge and retaliation. This part is for the Lord.

JeSoul:

Coolruler,

Turning the other cheek simply means that if you are wronged, do not seek revenge but leave it to God. It does not mean to not protect yourself and become a pushover allowing yourself to be continually cheated and mistreated or physically harmed without defending yourself. The basic concept of Jesus' words was to simply not seek revenge for a wrongdoing.

seconded! . . . . . .I could not have said this better.

banom:

Ha ha ha, Honestly, i didn't mean all i said, i just wanted to test your faith of turning the other cheak,
You truely turned the other cheak by the bolded comment above, you are realy a good christian not those hypocrise like noetic2.

my applogies please.

I cant help but laugh. . . . . .u dont even know what hypocrisy means?

Pastor AIO:

I'm sure Banom would gladly do this. In fact if his yansh was a city, Jesoul could have the keys to the city.

  lol . . . hmm I'm not so sure I want the keys to[i] that [/i] city.