text: Food for Thought: One of my own misunderstandings, due to the structure of our society, was that we as followers of Christ should punish those who harm us. If the Church suffered apostacy early in the middle ages, then, it just may be that the early Christians followed Christ’s teachings even to the point of not pursuing civil punishment of those who harmed them. Christ’s teaching was “to turn the other cheek”, and forgive those who persecute you. We follow the tradition of Roman law because the traditional power structures of western civilization emerged from the Roman society. One of the keys to understanding how to have Christ’s power in your life may be to accept the actions of others without attempting to use civil government to punish the offender, which is accepted by scholars as a system of human justice implemented to prevent individuals from seeking revenge independently. Remember, Christ said, “judge not, that ye be not judged, I shall repay saith the Lord of Hosts.” No person will find it easy to ignore those who purposefully take advantage of them, but those who choose to emulate Christ, by caring for others, avoiding greed and materialism, and refusing to harm others may actually be able to call on Christ aid in time of need; this would be helpful when facing climate change.