He's a fighter.
Years ago, when I was in middle school, I was attending a Christian school--a little small town organization run by a local pastor out of his church. Kindergarten all the way up through 12th grade, but only abut 100 students total. Sixth through twelfth grade was all in the same classroom (a recipe for disaster) and there were about 30 of us.
Two of the students, Nathan and Paul, were members of that particular church-school, along with their family. Nathan was in eleventh grade, built like a brick, and he was a physical bully. He would kick you in the back as you walked down the hall, and when you fell over, he'd laugh. Fighting back did nothing to earn his respect, he would just pound you again and call you a pussy. Paul, his brother, was in tenth grade, and a verbal bully. He would find things about you that were odd, or not "up to code", and trash you in front of everyone. If you tried to shut his mouth for him, Nathan would jump in front of you and kick you to the ground. Afterward, both of them would laugh at you. You quickly learned who owned this school, because if you reported this to the teachers, no consequences were meted out beyond a "we'll have a talk with him".
(The "talk" usually resulted in you being cornered behind the building by Nathan.)
Being in Nathan and Paul's good graces were the only way you were going to survive in this school, and those brothers weren't going anywhere. Their parents were BIG tithers, and donors.
I remember one day out on the playground, Nathan had one little boy, Robbie, pinned against a tree. He'd tickled him mercilessly until he wet his pants, a dark stain now down the front of his jeans. A crowd of students had gathered, and Paul was hyping them up.
"We need a name for Robbie. He ain't gonna be Robbie anymore. Should we call him piss-pants, or faggot?" he asked.
Laughter.
"All for piss-pants, say PISS-PANTS."
Laughter, mixed with piss-pants.
"All for faggot, say FAGGOT."
The faggots won.
Audience participation at it's finest.
Some students reasoned that Robbie was probably gay, and continued to call him faggot.
......
That year, on awards night, two particular awards were given out to specific students who showed exemplary character and representation of what Christ was to his disciples--examples of leadership and compassion.
Nathan won for leadership.
Paul won for compassion.
It's easy to say "Well that was corrupt behavior by the school based on favoritism and financial interest." But there is something to be said for Nathan and Paul's popularity and influence as causality.
Administration defended them because they were members of the church, and "we must remember that only God can judge them". Students defended them out of fear, but also, there was a level of entertainment value when you were not the one being pinned to the wall.
Christian adults defended them, even though they did horrible things. Could Nathan and Paul quote the bible? Oh yes, their parents had them at church every Sunday. But their behavior was disgraceful.
It has continually amazed me how good people defend and support bullies, then when those bullies attack, those same people say "Well you should have stood up to them." or "Oh, he's not all that bad. He's just had a rough life."
(I want no part of Christians who defend bullies' behavior. None. For any reason. If you are a Christian and you defend bullying, no matter what the reason, I'm done with you.)
This is why I am majoring in sociology. So that I can unpack why supposedly good people defend and rationalize the behavior of bad people.
But most of all, to be a voice for the marginalized. Especially the ones who are told they are asking for "too much" or that they are "being too sensitive".
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