Copyright © 2016 by Thomas Gangale
I asked a young Tongan man why he would throw a stone at a dog.
"Because the dog wants to bite me."
"You don't know that for sure. A dog who barks may not want to bite. He may just want you to leave. He may just want you to 'alu. Did you ever consider that?"
"No."
"Why not? Don't you tell dogs to 'alu? Maybe they want to tell you to 'alu, too. That wouldn't surprise me. What do you think?"
"I don't know."
"You assume that the dog wants to bite you. But, if you are wrong, if he means you no harm, then throwing a stone at him is not an act of self-defense, it is an act of injustice. Isn't that so?"
"I guess so."
"For that matter, why would the dog want to bite you? What did you do to the dog?"
"Nothing."
"I can't imaging that a dog would want to bite you for no reason, can you?"
"No."
"But let's assume for the sake of argument that the dog really does want to bite you, not because of anything you have done to him, but perhaps because someone else did something to him. What do you suppose would cause the dog to want to bite anyone who passes by?
"Someone else probably threw a rock at him."
"So, you are afraid that the dog might want to bite you because someone else threw a stone at him before, is that so?"
"Yes."
"Does it seem right to you that you should be afraid of the dog because someone else threw a rock at him?"
"No."
"After all, dogs aren't born wanting to bite anyone who passes by. That dog was once a playful little puppy, right?"
"Yes."
"And now the dog is a mean son of a bitch because someone else threw a stone at him. It's that other person's fault, not yours. Is that correct?"
"Yes."
"So, you throw a stone, whether or not the dog really wants to bite you, because you assume that the dog wants to bite you. Doesn't that make the dog angry and afraid?"
"Yes."
"What is going to happen to the next person who walks by that dog?"
"I don't know."
"Sure you do. You said that the dog wanted to bite you, even though you did nothing to provoke it. You claim that the dog wanted to bite you because someone else threw a rock at it before. And so, you threw a rock at the dog because you were afraid. So I ask you again, what is going to happen to the next person who walks by that dog?"
"The dog will try to bite him."
"Really? Even if that person has never done anything to harm him or to threaten him? Why would the dog try to bite that person?"
"Because someone else threw a rock at him."
"We're talking about the very next person to pass by the dog right after you threw a stone at him, and that made the dog angry and afraid. Next he wants to bite someone he may never have seen before. So this person is afraid of the dog because you threw the previous rock at him. It's your fault, isn't it, just like it was someone else's fault that the dog wanted to bite you?"
"Yes."
"It's not entirely your fault. After all, someone else cast the first stone. Tell me, the person who cast the first stone at the playful little puppy that this mean son of a bitch once was, do you think that he was without sin?"
"I don't know."
"By casting that first stone at the playful little puppy, he committed a sin, didn't he?"
"I don't know."
"He threw a rock at a puppy. The puppy did nothing to deserve it. It was an unjust act, a cruel act. What do you mean, you don't know? You know right from wrong, don't you?"
"Yes."
"So tell me, is it right or wrong to throw a stone at a puppy who has done nothing to deserve it?"
"It's wrong."
"It's a sin, isn't it? Someone who willfully does wrong is committing a sin, right? That's the very definition of sin."
"I guess so."
"But here's the nasty thing about evil. It doesn't stop with one sinful act, it goes on and on. After the first stone was cast, there was a second stone cast, and a third, and so on, until the innocent little puppy became the mean son of a bitch he is today, right?"
"Yes."
"One sinful act led to another and another, didn't it?"
Yes."
"Then came your stone, and the next person after you threw your stone was afraid, so he also threw his stone. As I said before, it's not entirely your fault. You're just a link in the chain of violence against the dog, just one link in the chain of sins committed against him, but you are indeed one of the links in this chain. Tell me, how do you think this chain of evil will end?"
"I don't know."
"Well, will it end if people keep casting stones?"
"No."
"Might it end if people stop casting stones?"
"Maybe."
"So, here is my last question for you: is there anyone among you who has cast his last stone?"
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