As I age, I’m becoming less dogmatic. When I became a pacifist in my early twenties, I piously announced that no circumstances could cause me to take the life of a fellow human. When asked what I would do if someone were attacking my wife and children, since I didn’t have a wife or child, it was easy for me to say, “I would resist them without harming them.” I enjoyed the sense of moral superiority I felt, so started giving lectures, speeches, and sermons about pacifism and how simple it was. I took pride in my untested commitment to world peace.
