Summary
Ivan Ilyin: On opposing evil by force
Ilyin sharply criticized Tolstoy's ideas of not opposing evil and tried to justify the idea that, regardless of the fact that from the Christian point of view, evil is always defeated only by love (moral, spiritual education, etc.), in some cases, when all other ways of opposing evil have already been exhausted and have not brought success, the use of external coercion and even the death penalty and military force is legitimate. At the same time, Iljin does not glorify the forced use of force, he does not place it in the rank of virtue - the use of violence is always an unjust thing (although not sinful). How to behave when a social and moral evil stands in front of a person, how to oppose it is a matter of moral choice: the correct choice can only be made by a spiritually and morally healthy personality.
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