Sitting Duck or Vital Community Member?

By Kellene Bishop

Coward in War illustration c/o sonofthesouth.net

Surely you’ve seen those movies in which a revolution, war, worthy rebellion, or fight for survival is going on and then the story introduces a cowardly sitting duck who actually puts the lives of everyone else at risk. Unfortunately, that’s a very accurate depiction of the makings of every part of our society. The apathetic cowards always compromise the safety of the strong who are willing to do what’s right. The results of such sitting ducks in our life are so repetitive; I wonder why we aren’t more diligent in watching out for the apathetic as much as we are the proactively evil? They are both threats to our safety.

I have attended the same chiropractor regularly for several years. Recently he and his wife have been open and even proactive in the idea of becoming better prepared to defend themselves and their children in the event of an emergency. Given that I teach physical and firearm self-defense, my chiropractor had encouraged me to post my Women of Caliber flyer and business cards on their Business Directory board which is in view of all of the waiting patients. In fact, the set up is such that, other than a magazine, it’s about the only thing to “entertain” patients during their waiting. Last week when I went into my appointment I discovered that someone had taken exception to my flyer and business cards and had removed them. I spoke to the chiropractor about it wondering if he had had second thoughts in such a marketing piece being present. He assured me that none of his staff would have done such and that it had to have been one of his patients.

So why do I tell you this story? Because I see the individual who removed my materials as one of those apathetic cowards. This is the profile of a person who would rather pray for their enemies in order to avoid conflict with them. While I’m definitely a praying kind of woman, I’ve found that I do better asking for a rope and a pair of hiking boots rather than asking for the mountain to be removed. I can’t change the behavior of others. And I firmly believe it’s a shuddering scaredy cat who refuses to believe that there are plenty of “others” who would do them harm if given the right circumstances. So, since I can’t control the actions of others, I choose to practice and be ready for my actions when harm comes to me.

A protective mother and her pup. animalphotos.info

I find this especially baffling when I speak with mothers, as it’s the mothers of young children who tend to be the most resistant to learning to effectively defend themselves. Women tend to be more peaceful in nature, and less likely to be confrontational—unless you threaten their children. And yet what good is a mother who’s all riled at a home invader when she’s lacking in any actual skills that would effectively protect her children?

I find it ironic that if it weren’t for all of the sitting ducks, there would be no need for vital community members to “save the day.” The sitting ducks present just as much prey for the criminals as food does to wild bears. If there were less sitting ducks in a community, then there would indeed be less crime and less need for firearm defense.

Ironically it’s the people who leave their doors unlocked, their purses on the front seat, their garages wide open, and walk around unaware who are the same people that tend to take offense at messages that Women of Caliber dispense. Yup, the cowards fuel the evil. It’s a good thing there are a few of us vital community members to still come around and save your apathetic fannies.

Copyright 2009 Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved. You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Kellene Bishop.