Do you seek vengeance? Is Vengeance ever justified?

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6 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	Sometimes justified.
	2 (33%)
	Usually justified..
	0 (0%)
	Revenge is tasty.
	0 (0%)
	No man, come on.
	2 (33%)
	I don't miss myspace
	0 (0%)
	I kinda miss myspace
	0 (0%)
	AVENGERS!
	0 (0%)
	Forgive at every opportunity.
	2 (33%)
	Blue
	0 (0%)
	Green
	0 (0%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
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[MrSlayer]

1. Yes and yes.

I believe in street justice but I don't sweat the small stuff. You need to do something serious for me to come after you. But I will come after you.

[RobertEarl]

2. Forgive and try to forget

Sometimes in order to forget bridges must be burned.

When you do forgive and must confront again, the power is yours. You retain it and keep it. If you can't forget you lose some of the power back to the problem maker.

[rhett o rick]

3. Vengeance is never justified. It is easy to say when not in the situation where it is tempting.

I understand how it can be appealing in some circumstances, but it really is a sickness.

[flvegan]

4. If vengeance is justified, I delight in it.

It's a revenge v justice thing, though so don't take my response too far.

[Skip Intro]

5. Justice is one thing, revenge is another.

[musical_soul]

7. Agreed.

Justice is about what's right. Vengeance is about *wanting* to hurt another person.

[ashling]

11. well said

[flvegan]

19. Thanks for affirming my position on it.

[Odin2005]

6. an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.

[cynatnite]

8. Vengeance and justice are rarely ever the same. n/t

[seabeyond]

9. i have never been one for vengeance. i dont know why, not part of my make up.

i dont like to hurt people, regardless. i dont like people to hurt, regardless.

[JI7]

10. yes and yes

[limpyhobbler]

12. Sometimes justified.

Like if Gang B assaults someone from Gang A, then Gang A has to go get revenge, so they won't be seen as weak, to avoid becoming a target of continual assaults.

Chimpanzee tribes do the same.

We evolved revenge the same as we evolved other social behaviors like play and courting.

In yer brain, revenge is intertwined with the concept of justice. Both concepts light up some of the same bits in yer brain.

But since we have civilization, we can usually call the cops instead of personally taking revenge, if it's anything serious. That helps preserve an orderly society.

So revenge is natural for cavemen but in a society it's better to call the police.

[Kaleva]

13. I don't stay mad long and I don't despise anyone.

[Comrade_McKenzie]

14. Just about all of my favorite movies have the theme of revenge.

I never get revenge in a violent way. I've always been handy at using modern technology to put people in their place.

[Canuckistanian]

15. As a Canadian, I've got to say...

Americans of all political stripes seem to love vengeance.

I see it right here on DU. Unbridled joy at seeing the death of your favorite bad guy. Unqualified zeal for death penalty for "certain crimes".

And of course, the death of OBL, which disgusted me. I would have rather seen him in front of a judge, rather than being summarily executed and dumped at sea.
The bastard deserved to rot in jail, becoming less and less relevant to radical Muslim extremists every year.

This seems to be a sea change from the America I knew of Nuremberg trials and the rule of international law. Want to kill a bad guy? Then fucking prove it in a court of law and get a judge to sign it at least.

[seabeyond]

16. because it is so much easier to broadbrush. each event you have brought up there are more people

that call bullshit on that behavior. so i am really glad to see your consistency on fairness, when discussing an issue like vengeance.

[Canuckistanian]

20. I damn near quit DU

After seeing post after post after post of "YEAH! We SMOKED the bastard!"

People like me were in the minority saying "What, you mean they never even TRIED to capture OBL alive"?

[Skip Intro]

18. I suspect who ever gave obl up demanded the burial at sea

assuming it's a true story at all...

[white_wolf]

17. Seek it? I am vengeance, I am the night, I am Batman.

Seriously, though I have no use for vengeance which is one of the reasons I oppose the death penalty.

[mythology]

21. It takes more courage to walk away than it does to seek vengeance.

Vengeance to me is a base emotion. It's easy to want revenge against someone who wrongs you, but it's a never ending cycle.

[slackmaster]

22. Vengeance is a dish that's best served cold

Very cold.

[malthaussen]

23. Two quotes:

"Vengeance is a dish best taken cold."
"Who seeks revenge should first build two coffins."

That about sums up the ambivilence humans have about the subject.

Whether justifiable or not, many people do seem to relish it, or did you miss all the people chanting "U-S-A!! U-S-A!!" a little over a year ago?

-- Mal

[Zorra]

24. Vengeance is mine, sayeth the universe...I will repay.

If someone deliberately harms me, I may take some action, in situations where it is necessary, to try to prevent them from harming me again, or from harming others as I was harmed. I'm not sure if this is always vengeance; but honestly, sometimes there might be an element of vengeance in this, personally speaking.

I feel I have a right, within my personal belief system, to protect myself from harm, and maybe an obligation to try to protect others from harm.

It's kind of like stopping the Nazis, it is absolutely imperative to stop them, but there also is an element of deep personal satisfaction in stopping them. And seeing them held accountable for what they did. At least, there definitely would be for me. I'm only human..
,
Otherwise, what goes around comes around.

People that repeatedly and deliberately harm others out of malice create within their being an ever growing dark horrifying hell of of fear, guilt, and confusion, sometimes to the point where they are so far gone that there is no hope of them ever regaining their humanity.

That is way worse than anything I could possibly do to someone through some act of vengeance, and I wish it on no one, but have no control over what they choose to do to themselves. They make their own hell.

RW fundy conservatives, career violent criminals, or people whose job it is to hurt innocent others make their choices to do evil. There is a huge personal price paid for the unwarranted harming others for any type personal gain, again, at a price that is far, far, worse than anything I could possibly do to someone through some act of vengeance.

We are all faced with a set of circumstances in our lives. We all have choices. Someone that has faced extremely difficult conditions throughout their life can grow into the most awesome person because they refuse to let the trials they face corrupt their hearts. Someone from the very best of circumstances can devolve into a mean, conscienceless bully, capable of any heinous act.

We are all faced with different circumstances. We make our own choices. Choices have consequences.

And doing no harm requires preventing harm.


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[Earth_First]

25. "An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind." n/t

[sabrina 1]

26. No, justice is what we should seek.

[DerekG]

27. Depends on the depth of the transgressor's malice, and the prospect of his/her incarceration

In rare cases, yes, I would imagine that vengeance can be a beautiful, wonderful, glorious enterprise.

[loyalsister]

28. No and not for me to say

If I get extremely angry over feeling like I or someone I care about has been "wronged" I just disengage. I sometimes carry a grudge, but I am not interested enough in the past to want to retaliate.

I think vengeance is based in emotion and is too personal for me to have an opinion of whether it is justified for someone else.

I don't judge the tendency for some people to want to seek revenge at a personal level. But, I don't support a practice of state sponsored vengeance.

[ZombieHorde]

29. One person's justice is another person's vengeance.

I don't really see the difference. They both seem to involve hurting someone in some way.

[GoCubsGo]

30. Other: Karma is a bitch.

I believe that what goes around comes around. I don't see any point in seeking vengeance, because one way or another, the forces of the universe eventually take care of that for you.