day no. 17,492: the civil must war or civilization will be defeated

"He is a good citizen that does not do evil (so said a noble wise man) but he is better who does not allow others to hurt or do injustice to the innocent. For the blood of the innocent shall be demanded not only from those that shed blood, but also of those that make or consent to wicked laws, to condemn the innocent, or suffer their head to kill them contrary to just laws, or to spoil then of what they justly enjoy be the order of law." — John Ponet, A Short Treatise on Political Power

A good citizen does not do evil to his neighbor, but a better citizen is one who does not allow other to do evil to his neighbor. God is a God of order, not chaos. Good order is a by-product of following God's good laws and submitting to His good rule. Those who love the Law seek to keep it and to protect others from those who seek to break it.

"A civilization is not destroyed by wicked men; it is destroyed by weak men who cannot defend what is good.” — G. K. Chesterton

Civilization is not maintained by those who merely seek to avoid evil, it is sustained by those who seek to keep others from carrying out their wicked designs. 

“Every high civilization decays by forgetting obvious things.” — G.K. Chesterton

When we become too content with staying out of trouble we allow troublers to corrupt our cousins. It is not enough to merely keep yourself from corrupting others, it is a matter of keeping the corrupted from carrying out their schemes and confronting them in the midst of their corruption.

“If you are not prepared to use force to defend civilization, then be prepared to accept barbarism.” — Thomas Sowell

Civilization requires confrontation. Evil does not forget its ancient enmity, even when good grows content to forget. Barbarism must be battled. Force must be applied because it lacks the self-control to stop itself. If good men will not step up to stop it, bad men will step all over them.