Several people commented about the need to protect the good life they have, otherwise somebody would invade to snatch it away. Quite right. We can't bow under bullies' threats. Reducing the conflict to a playground scenario, it would be like stopping a gang of thugs from beating you and taking your apple.

Back to the dilemma of stopping other people taking what is yours. What does the lesson in the bible mean about turning the other cheek? That's not about protecting, but rather about accepting. Can we apply the meaning to the present day?

While my daughters remained at a local primary school, my teenage son would need to catch a school bus to an Area School, set aside for local farmers and families dotted over the countryside. During the summer holidays, my son chose to become a practicing Christian. At his last school in Adelaide, he'd defended weaker children and had become a hero. Tall for his age and slender as a young teenage boy can be while he filled out his bones, he left for his first day full of enthusiasm.

Not only did this real-life experience teach me how peer-group pressure can change a beautiful soul, it highlighted the need for restrained defense at the beginning of a conflict to prevent a build-up of aggression. Bridle as I might about the bleak reality, that's the way things are. Protect yourself or succumb to another order.