Christian Family Services Ministry

6-6-2018 – A Word to the Wise: There is a lot of criticism of the officer who failed to enter the school and shoot the shooter. Before you  speak you might consider; have you ever face the situation where you were immediately confronted with  killing another person? Consider this please. Killing another human is not an easy topic for one to  comprehend as a peacemaker. There seems to be a little Quakerism in most of us. Modern research sheds some light into this arena.

During World War II Colonel S. L. A. Marshall in a landmark study revealed that only about 17% of men involved in face to face combat  actually fired their weapons at the enemy. Other investigators have provided additional insight into what is known as the resistance to killing.

At the conclusion of the battle at Gettysburg during the Civil War there were 27,574 muskets recovered from the battlefield. One would expect a high percentage to have been discharged in the fierce fighting on those battlefields yet 24,000 muskets recovered were loaded. Twelve thousand had multiple loads.

How is that possible? At the very least 12,000, and more likely 20,000 were noncombatants in the fiercest battle on American soil. Many soldiers did not want to kill! They would do everything but fire their weapon at another person. Many more discharged their weapons over the heads of the enemy, or into the ground. The only conclusion available is men have a great resistance to killing. The closer the combat the higher the resistance. God created a barrier in man that resist killing.

Considering the topic myself when I first became a police officer I concluded for my own self that I would kill only to save the life of another person, but not for self-protection. That self-established rule determine that in four situation where I was legally, and morally justified I did not pull the trigger.

In rethinking those four situations over the years I realize having considered the problem before hand it was easier to deal with the situation when it occurred.
But to judge the situation that faced this school resource officer without considering what you would have done is cruel misjudgment. He faces now being called a coward and many other names, but remember 83 % of the population when faced with a similar situation would not have killed. Would you have?