Ilyin first describes our moral obligation to first attempt through conversation to change someone's evil will.  After that, we can then morally resist their evil deeds.  Our requirement to live together in harmony requires to try and stop evil deeds while they are still just thoughts, to permanently change someone's will.

He points out that we are the worst judges of ourselves.  We all keep and inner and outer self; one reserved for ourselves and one that is public-facing.  We all self-delude ourselves into believing that we are always the good guy and that we have no faults.  We get mad when we are "unfairly blamed", when actually being called out for our bad behavior.

Ilyin describes nonverbal communication well.  Every act or attitude we take is physically manifested within us and becomes part of our outward appearance, whether for good or bad, if peolpe just take time to notice.  He calls it "unconscious integrity of communication and transmission".  

According to Ilyin, you cannot be "evil inside" or "good inside", and not have it affecrt teh outside world.  If you have evil inside, you spread evil around you.  If you are good inside, you spread good to all those you touch. "A good man is a living hearth of good & strength in good, while an evil man is a living hearth of evil, strength in evil and weakness in good."  

We have a duty to resist evil interally within us.

Ilyin says that we are OBLIGATED to resist evil everywhere for the good of all.  He says we are obliged to fight evil at every turn and that we have no right at all to allow evil to go unchecked.  We MUST act against and not let it mutliply.  He claims this is a spiritual call and a public duty. 

He says there is no right to commit evil.  Those who are naive enough to believe that others have a freedom to commit evil will eventually become slaves to it.

After describing this, he points out again that we all have a public duty for the good of all to actively resist evil anywhere.  We obligated to resist evildoers and villains as well as to resist proactively and effectively. 

"Anyone who sends evil must always be cognizant of this and accept that others will be permitted to put a stop to his wicked acts and force him to qualitatively review the evil he sends"

That quote was the basis for law and safety in the old west - before I attack someone, I have to decide if I'm willing to get shot for it.  We need to RETVRN.

Ilyin says that as a society, we all have a desire to see good grow.  Evil people threaten that and threaten our peace, so we must unite against villains in our midst.  Those villains must be met by united resistance and opposition.  Ilyin points out that the resistance to evil is done by few on beahlf of all and benefits a community as a whole.

In the book, Ilyin points out that for any central authority, whether state or church, to exist, it must be supported by the people for the good of the whole, with submitting to it for the good of all.  He believed that the reason that Russia turned communist was because the people desired to submit to the state for the good of themsleves (taking from the rich and giving it to the individual).  The US Constitution as originally written met Ilyin's requirements.  Notably, the church's "Military Orders" or knights, also did.  When governments failed to protect citizens, the church did, and the citizens willingly submitted to the local order.

He points out something here that illustrates our current issues.  He said that as soon as a government begins to appease the villains or the people harbor them, society falls.  That's exactly where we are today.

Let me know your thoughts below.

Ilyin starts out by defining what most people consider to be love "What is nice is good", or that which we are sympathetic to.  He points out that perfection is actually what is good and worthy of love.  He posits that people like things that give them pleasure and confuse that for love, but it is shallow and unmeaningful.

On the contrary, spiritual love means that we do what is right, even if it is not pleasant, not fun, and not nice, even if it leads to discomfort, unpleasantness, or difficulty.  For spiritual love, even suffering is worth it.

According to Ilyin, Christ's two basic Commandments were to love God and to love your neighbor.  He points out that when your neighbor (fellow man) is doing evil, resisting him would seem to be in contradiction to "loving" him, but not resisting violates the love of God.  The love of God (doing what is right in His eyes) outweighs any sympathy or "love" for your neighbor.  If someone has removed God from their lives, they need us to tell them "no", rather than modern society telling them "yes", and thus resistance to evil.

The proponents of "love wins" and "love trumps all", claim that condemning people for their choices and evil deeds is labeled as "hate", "intolerance", and "malice", and thus encourage no limits on behavior.  If I truly love my neighbor, I MUST be able to tell him no, that his behavior is unacceptable, and that I will resist their actions.  Refusing to put them on the right path out of "love" is not truly love and is actually helping to condemn their soul.  Ilyin interestingly paraphrases the idea that "acceptance is not a Christian Virtue".

Ilyin reminds us that while we should indeed love our neighbor, we CANNOT EVER love evil in a man.  There are some people who are just evil.  No amount of acceptance or sympathy will ever change them, and we must modify our approach to resistance.

The only thing we can truly love completely without conditions is God.

When true good is confronted by true evil, evil must be destroyed and, as Ilyin says, executed.  When we resist using force, we do not become evil, as, in the end, we pray for the salvation of the soul of the executed person.

Ilyin points out that we begin with disapproval and work our way through a series of escalating responses to evil done in our presence, which can (and should) include ruthlessness against evildoers.  Remember God's commands to Joshua about what to do to anyone who resisted him.  Ilyin posits that true love of good requires it.

He uses the example of Jesus driving the money changers from the Temple as the justification for righteous application of force in the presence of and resistance to evil.

Ilyin says that resistance to evil can be summed up like this: "the struggle is fought with love, but with spiritualized love."

We must resist evil out of a love for good, not for vengeance, revenge, greed, or desire for power.

The struggle against evil is done from love.

Here's the closing quote, which I love: "but the active resistance against the villain's evil designs on others, and against the villain himself is not evil, but good."

Let me know your thoughts below.

Man, this chapter is FULL of good stuff, despite it being relatively short.

Spiritual Love and devotion is a CHOICE.  It's not born into us, we have to decide to choose good over evil and prefer it.  According to Ilyin, you cannot love everything (as the left says) or love all things equally.  Those who say they do are either incorrect or are so self-centered that they don't actually love anything but themselves.

According to the text, we love everyone to the extent that they do good.  Love of evil, evil people, or the devil is UNNATURAL.

Ilyin writes that we must NEVER accept evil.  Accepting evil, or identifying with it, leads to temptation and eventual submission.

According to our homeboy Ilyin, the only position Christians can take when faced with evil is with a drawn sword.

Next, Ilyin DESTROYS one of the biggest fallacies that the modern church pushes on us: "Love your enemies" refers only to your own personal haters & persecutors, NOT the enemies of God.  BOOM.  Christ never called us to love the enemies of God.  Christ Himself actually had fiery words and threats of retribution for evildoers.  Therefore, loving, forgiving, and caring for the enemies of God is against God's will.

When the Bible says to "forgive", it says to forgive those who sin AGAINST YOU, not God.  The Bible refers to forgiving "brothers" or fellow followers of The Way, not everyone.  In fact, it even points out that if a brother refuses to change, you can treat him as a heathen.  According to Ivan, those who can "forgive all" have a personal worldview, rather than a spiritual one.

According to Ilyin, forgiveness doesn't stop evil, it just stops the emotional impact it has on you.  The villain is still free to impact others.  Forgiveness doesn't mean we shouldn't intervene.

Indifference towards evil done to others shows a lack of will and spirit.

There is a great quote here: "Permissiveness has nothing to do with Christian forgiveness."

When we resist, we must not do so to punish, but to restrain behavior.  

To the villain, forgiveness is encouragement to continue.

Ilyin asks: Do we have to let the victim be harmed by the villain to show our gentleness and restraint?  He points out that this is a betayal.

Straight FIRE chapter.  Discuss below.