Running away from an aggressor

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If there is an aggressor and you are in immediate danger are you absolutely obliged to run away or can we stand out ground and defend ourselves? Also if there is an aggressor attacking you in a non lethal way can we still defend ourselves
 
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Regardless of what we might think, sitting in our comfy chairs, when real danger is near most of us will run or hide or both. It takes intensive training for a person to override those instincts.
 
Church teachings on “just war” apply to your question but more specifically here for the individual:

2263The legitimate defense of persons and societies is not an exception to the prohibition against the murder of the innocent that constitutes intentional killing. "The act of self-defense can have a double effect: the preservation of one’s own life; and the killing of the aggressor. . . . The one is intended, the other is not."65

2264Love toward oneself remains a fundamental principle of morality. Therefore it is legitimate to insist on respect for one’s own right to life. Someone who defends his life is not guilty of murder even if he is forced to deal his aggressor a lethal blow:

If a man in self-defense uses more than necessary violence, it will be unlawful: whereas if he repels force with moderation, his defense will be lawful. . . . Nor is it necessary for salvation that a man omit the act of moderate self-defense to avoid killing the other man, since one is bound to take more care of one’s own life than of another’s.66
 
More than one self-defense expert has taught that the best defense is to run away and only engage if you have no alternative. But that doesn’t answer the theological question.
 
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TheLittleLady said:
Regardless of what we might think, sitting in our comfy chairs, when real danger is near most of us will run or hide or both. It takes intensive training for a person to override those instincts.
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Sometimes you can’t run or hide. When I was driving a cab in the 1980’s as a much younger man, I had the engine turned off and the drivers window open when a man came up and stuck a handgun in my ear.

I had to grab his wrist with my left hand first before taking off.
 
michael-kaw said:
If there is an aggressor and you are in immediate danger are you absolutely obliged to run away or can we stand out ground and defend ourselves? Also if there is an aggressor attacking you in a non lethal way can we still defend ourselves
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As a black belt martial artist with over 20 years of training I fear that my body reacts instinctively and I don’ have a lot of time to ponder over it.

Feeding into evil of this kind can perpetuate that evil, and evil must be resisted. There are times when it is most prudent to avoid conflict, and times when attempting to avert it will only exacerbate it. I think it is a matter of prudential judgment whether one is facilitating wrongdoing by failing to resist.
 
michael-kaw said:
If there is an aggressor and you are in immediate danger are you absolutely obliged to run away or can we stand out ground and defend ourselves?
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Check your State Laws concerning this. Any attempt to de-escalate the situation will count in your favor.
michael-kaw said:
Also if there is an aggressor attacking you in a non lethal way can we still defend ourselves
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If someone is physically attacking you, the Police are getting involved. Once again, check your State laws and possibly a lawyer.
 
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People better check the law first! Morally you’re allowed to defend your life. However, you better be prepared for a Court Case and Legal Fees.
 
Cruciferi said:
If someone is physically attacking you, the Police are getting involved.
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If there is gunfire, the police will definitely be involved.

Otherwise, maybe or maybe not. Even if they end up in hospital they might not want to make a big deal of it.
 
michael-kaw said:
If there is an aggressor and you are in immediate danger are you absolutely obliged to run away or can we stand out ground and defend ourselves? Also if there is an aggressor attacking you in a non lethal way can we still defend ourselves
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I usually deal with those situations this way…

 
Cruciferi said:
People better check the law first! Morally you’re allowed to defend your life. However, you better be prepared for a Court Case and Legal Fees.
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However, in extreme circumstances I believe the age old axiom; “I’d rather be judged by 12, than carried by 6” might just apply…no?
 
Check your state law, though. Sometimes you are obliged to use proportionate force. That is, if the dude is slugging you and you escalate to a weapon, that might not count as self-defense, unless the dude was trying to beat you to death and you could not prevent that without escalating,
 
If there is an aggressor and you are in immediate danger are you absolutely obliged to run away or can we stand out ground and defend ourselves?
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Thee are states where the law protects you if you might have had a chance to flee but didn’t notice it/decided not to risk it.

Morally, remember that self-defense is permitted in order to protect your life or someone else’s, not to punish the assailant. Injuring or killing the assailant may be a side effect of protecting yourself, but it should never be the goal. That would suggest that, if you believe your chances of ending the situation by fleeing are as good or better than your chances of ending the situation by fighting back, fleeing is the preferable alternative.
Also if there is an aggressor attacking you in a non lethal way can we still defend ourselves
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You may fight back non-lethally, of course. If you believe (and, one hopes, can later argue in court) that the “non-lethal” assault nevertheless poses an imminent threat of death or permanent injury to you, you may employ lethal force. I know in some places attempted kidnapping is considered to justify lethal force, despite being non-lethal in intent, on the grounds that once you are under the kidnapper’s power, they could then kill you and you would have far less chance to prevent it,
 
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