I think the advice to "turn the other cheek" has a lot more to do with a person's maintenance of their own inner state of mind than with cheeks being slapped, Steve. It's not meant literally.

That is to say...when met with a hateful or resentful attitude from others, do yourself the favor of nurturing within yourself the opposite consciousness. Do not do the standard reactive thing which is to return hate for hate, resentment for resentment. It will only poison your own consciousness, make you feel lousy, and probably end up hurting others too. Maintain a mind free of hatred and resentment, cultivate love and equanimity in the face of hatred and resentment. Stay positive.

If you haven't tried it, you're hardly in a position to evaluate it. And here's the fact: most people haven't tried it. They just do that standard immature reaction of returning hate for hate, resentment for resentment, blow for blow.

And how far does it get them?

Think about it.

The part about "sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof" means simply this: Don't waste your energies worrying and obsessing about all kinds of bad stuff that might happen in some imagined future. Deal with the REAL problems of today and the REAL challenges that are in front of you right NOW. Work with what is presently available, don't get mired in dark fantasies about things that may never happen.

If a person behaves that way, realistically and in the present, they will usually do a whole lot better than someone who is constantly fretting about what dreadful things might happen tomorrow, next month or next year.

They will not, for example, attack Iraq or Iran on the mere stated supposition that Iraq or Iran might someday build a nuclear weapon. If a person is not presently attacking you, then you have no business presently attacking them...and international law agrees on that.