Violence

Violence is physical force applied for unethical reasons such as aggression, abuse or exploitation. Its ethical opposite is self-defense or defense of another.

Most countries have laws against violence, although some governments habitually employ violence against their own citizenry. International legislation on human rights is meant to prevent this, but has proved difficult to enforce in practice.

• Excessive violence is naturally associated with other forms of social pathology. [1]

Violence as a sin

In Christian thought, violence can describe any sin that is malicious, but does not use the human intellect. As well as direct physical violence, Dante's Inferno categorises tyrrany, suicide, self-harm, blasphemy, usury and homosexuality as forms of violence. The last three are considered the most serious forms, as the violence is directed against God or nature.

See also

• murder and homosexuality