Cruiser, that's exactly my point. If a strong personal feeling can sweep away in one act-- one moment-- a value worked out over my lifetime, then I would suspect it may not be a feeling that would stand the test of time. Yes, as Amos says, of course I would WANT to "snuff" him, but it is my hope that it would not be a desire I would take action to satisfy.

I would hope (for me, I mean), that I would make a conscious choice to treat the feeling as a feeling, not something to be acted upon as a value.

What good are our values if we cannot exert our will to live by them when the crunch comes? Heck, that's when we need to rely on our values the most! The pain and frustration-- they're the cost of living with a high degree of intentionality as a higher order of motivation than reactivity. I am glad to have role models to look to, who have struggled with these issues in their own lives, in response to their own experiences of atrocity. Corrie tenBoom, for one, comes to mind.

As far as "what do Christians believe," we're as varied as any other group, and as human as every other bunch of knowitalls on the planet.

~Susan