For the next few days, I’ll be doing research in past readings with Archangel Michael.
As I do, I’m coming across discussions which are informative and thought-provoking. I plan to post some of these, to add to our knowledge base.
Here Archangel Michael discusses the difficult question: Is it acceptable to kill in self-defense? Taken from a reading with Archangel Michael through Linda Dillon on Oct. 11, 2011.
Steve Beckow: If somebody from the side of the elite were to attack me or my loved ones, and it looks like they would be killed, have I the right to defend myself?
Archangel Michael: Yes, you do. But there is a difference between defending and killing. There is a difference between the willful taking of somebody else’s life.
And you have had too much of that, so why would you ever wish to participate in that? Because what you are then doing is simply adding to that negative force.
And you need to understand that, no, the power of “no” is misunderstood. And it does not mean negative. It means shift the energy completely. It is saying no, and turning back the tide.
What you have not fully come to realize in terms of the usage — and when I say you, dear heart, I mean you, the collective, — what you do not understand in terms of the usage of your innate abilities is that when you say no, your shields are up, your sword is drawn, and what you perceive as the danger, or the enemy, or, yes, the darkness, will turn around and go.
SB: Where is the line between what is acceptable in self defense and what is not?
AAM: The line is in the willful killing. And we are not saying, because we know the evolutionary points of human existence, but there is a point at which the heart becomes enraged with bitterness, and the killing is willful. And what we mean, it is not an act of will — well, it is, but it is not an act of love. To lay down your life because someone wishes to kill you is all right, my friend.
SB: That’s a controversial statement, Lord, lay down my life because someone wants to kill me.
AAM: Yes.
SB: I’m sure my readers may find that a difficult saying. Could you expand a bit on that?
AAM: Yes. I think I’d better. Because I am not suggesting that you all lie down. And I am also not suggesting that there would not be divine intervention.
What I am asking of you — and you know we have travelled to the very heart of darkness, and we have done battle, but when it is done with hatred, when it is done in such a way that you destroy your own core, then what you have just done is destroy who you are.
Well, you would say to me, “But, Lord, after the deed is done, could I not regain my core? Could I not regain my center? Is there not mercy and forgiveness?” And I say, yes, of course there is. But why? Why would you jeopardize that core of bright light? Why would you surrender it to hatred? To darkness? To bitterness? Why would you go to the other side?
And you are saying, “Well, I would do it for love, I would do it to defend those I love.” We hear that a lot, you know. And we hear it in every nation, in all kinds of situations that have been pushed by righteous belief. Every religious war has been based on this belief, on righteous love and being in the right side. How can you be in the core of wholeness and be in hatred?
Now, I am not saying that when there are situations of what you think of as battle or combat that there are many, many, many, many times when death occurs, and when it does, it breaks the person’s heart because they know what they have done, and then there is reconstruction. Then the core is being healed.
So I would be a very naïve archangel if I was to say that the death or the defense never takes place in terms of the laying down of lives. But we would ask, we would beg, and we would guide you never to do this with malice or hatred. Because what it does is it takes you away.
It is this belief — and it is a belief we share, by the way — that all life is sacred. All life is sacred. And all life is transient. The eternal flame, it never dies, it never passes away. So in that moment of decision, do not embrace the hatred. And do not underestimate the power of no. Because also when you are saying no you are commanding and praying for divine intervention. You are asking for help. And when that cry comes up, it is heard.
You have raised a very important question because there are different kinds of violence. And I have spoken of religious battle and war, which is the anathema of your planet. And it is part of my job to bring back peace. It is part of all of our jobs to bring back peace.
But there is also violence that occurs simply from greed, from mental imbalance, from emotional imbalance. But now we get to the crux as well. And I do not want this, and I do not wish your readers to approach this as simply an intellectual conversation, because it is not. … There are many ways in which violence occurs. And this is the most difficult part of my initiative to restore peace on earth. It is the people who are being killed inch by inch by inch by the violence of uncaring society, of uncaring power, by starvation, by no clean water, by ignorance.
Is it allowable, is it permissible, to fight back? Absolutely. Tooth and nail. With everything that you have. And I will help you.
But if you say to me, “I want to kill that person because I hate who they are,” I will say, draw back, come back, do not take this into your heart. Because it kills more than the person, it kills a part of you.
SB: So the line is where hatred comes into the heart?
AAM: Yes.