Troy became a fierce partisan of the army and the government's war policy. The war protestors had started making a stir, and the talk in my shop (Jayber is the Port William town barber) ran pretty much against them (the setting is around the time of the Vietnam War). Troy hated them. As his way was, he loved hearing himself saying bad things about them.
One Saturday evening, while Troy was waiting his turn in the chair, the subject was started and Troy said- it was about the third thing said- "They ought to round up every one of them son of bitches and put them right in front of the damned communists, and then whoever killed who, it would be all to the good."
There was a little pause after that. Nobody wanted to try and top it....
It was hard to do, but I quit cutting hair and looked at Troy. I said, "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you."
Troy jerked his head up and widened his eyes at me. "Where did you get that crap?"
I said, "Jesus Christ."
And Troy said, "Oh."
It would have been a great moment in the history of Christianity, except that I did not love Troy.
Jayber Crow, p. 287
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