20 Feb 16

“Off” Duty?

A man with a dual (USA/Israeli) citizenship was stabbed to death at a Jerusalem supermarket last week. A devoted husband and father, he responded to screaming as two knife-wielding Palestinian teenagers were randomly attacking shoppers. Such racially/religiously inspired lethal attacks are now a daily occurrence in Israel, and in many metro areas here!

In the process of confronting the youthful murderers, the man was fatally wounded. Several other innocent shoppers were also injured, but none fatally.

Another shopper, armed with a pistol, responded by shooting both teenage thugs, instantly ending their rampage. Both criminals were subsequently reported hospitalized.

The decedent was an active member of a local police/security unit. However, on the day in question, as it was reported in the media, “… he was ‘off duty,’ and thus unarmed”

Lesson: The courageous citizen who was armed and effectively and decisively stopped the attack, and for whom the terms, “off duty” and “on duty” apparently have little meaning, doubtless prevented additional injury and probably saved several innocent lives, including his own.

The point is this:

There is no such status as “off duty.” That is just a careless term we’ve invented to cynically justify being personally unprepared.

Either go armed or don’t, but don’t insult my intelligence by claiming the ability to predict when and where lethal threats will present themselves, and thus arbitrarily dividing your life into “safe” and “dangerous” segments.

Going armed is analogous to wearing a seatbelt when in a moving vehicle. We just do it, every time! We don’t con ourselves by capriciously labeling this particular stretch of road “safe,” or “dangerous.”

Our disintegrating world is waxing more dangerous by the day, no matter where you live. Be personally prepared, or naively ignore the evidence and go merrily on your way. Either way, there is no predicting the future. Who claim the ability to do so with any degree of precision are (1) fools, or (2) charlatans!

“Every saint has a past. Every sinner has a future!”

Oscar Wilde

/John