Hang ‘Em High, by David Warren

The wonderful thing about a genuine emergency is that it makes plain what must be done. There is no controversy, we might say. A catastrophe can only be avoided if we: run, hide, pay, shoot, or whatever is “indicated” (as a lawyer might say) by the event itself.

What we must do is clear, within the panic induced by a real emergency – and we may even have the power to do what would not come naturally at any other time. (God arranged this in His plan for us, it seems to me.)

There is no time to debate, and wouldn’t be even if there was something to debate, when circumstances “go critical.” If you don’t take the “indicated” action, it will be all over for you. Not, “may be over for you”; true emergencies are conclusive. …