My Vow

I was reading this article and the associated comments. The article, for the benefit of the lazy, was about a recent home invasion and the comments discussed potential vs proper responses to violent thugs breaking into your house.

In the invasion in question, the phone line was out, probably cut. The police, therefore, were not coming.

This comment was made:

dont forget even those 'old' cell phones that are turned off (no service plan), can still be used to dial 911. Keep one in the bedroom on the charger. Hear the perp break down the door, dial 911 drop the phone, grab the gun.. and very loudly yell for the intruder to leave or they will be shot, that 911 recording will make for a good defense in court.

The response, by someone calling himself(or herself) 'Rational Radical', was this:

Maybe, but how will your soul feel when you found out you just blasted a teenager that is starving.

A timely(unfortunately) posting on Kim's site, quoting this article prompted my response in a discussion on another site:

Better than my soul would feel if some feral teenager raped my wife before strangling her, then raped my daughters before burning them alive, while I'm bound and trying to squirm to the neighbor's house for help.

To be perfectly clear: I did not invent that. It happened, in the NY Times article linked above.

You may want to stop reading. The details make me want to do unpleasant things to criminals. The details keep me awake at night, every time I hear the story. The details make me weep.

Last August, two feral thugs in Connecticut broke into a family's home. They tied up the entire family. The raped and strangled the mother, then raped and burned the daughters alive to hide DNA evidence.

I told you that, I put you through that horrible experience, so I could tell you this:
I swear this, on my life, my freedom, and my honor: Evil like this will not touch my family while I draw breath.

I will shoot, stab, kick, scratch, paw or otherwise destroy, anyone trying to harm my family, without reservation.

I do not care if the feral thug in my living room is starving. I don't care if he's stealing my television to feed his starving kids. I don't care why he is my home. I have to assume, for my family's safety, that he is there to do us harm.

Another man's poverty, another man's addiction, another man's unfortunate lot in life, is not enough for me to surrender my life, or that of my family. It is not enough to cause me to subject my family to any form of torture or terror.

If you come near my family with intent to do harm, I will come at you with everything I have. I will fight you with my dying breath, and if you manage to overcome me, I will do my best to rend your soul.

There is nothing that I won't do to keep that terror out of the hearts of my children.

You have been warned.