Who's afraid of the big, bad bully?

"Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked." - Psalm 82:4 (NIV)

In recent weeks, bullying has become a major topic of discussion in the news and other circles, mainly due to tragic circumstances:

• Last week in Detroit, a 7-year-old boy killed himself apparently after being the victim of bullies.
• A 17-year-old boy in the Tampa, Fla., area was left brain-damaged and paralyzed after he tried to kill himself after students at his school taunted him because they claimed he was gay.
• In Kingwood, Texas, a couple withdrew their twin 11-year-old sons from school after the boys had been bullied for their ethnicity. They had been born in India, and according to news reports, bullies at their middle school had taunted them regularly, calling them "terrorists" and punching one in the eye and shaving his eyebrow.

Efforts have been amped up in recent years to combat the apparent growing tide of bullying, though sometimes they have been counter-effective and amount to bullying themselves.

A main example of this came last month.

Sex columnist Dan Savage, who says he is gay, created the It Gets Better Project, in 2010, aiming to reduce the number of suicides among teens who had been bullied because they were gay or believed to be gay. However, at a high school journalism conference in Seattle, Savage profanely spoke out against Christians and the Bible, saying they were responsible for attitudes against gay people. A group of students attending the conference, walked, leading the organizer, the National Scholastic Press Association, to call his remarks "inappropriate," and Savage to later apologize.

So what should be the proper response to bullying?

The Bible is pretty clear in saying that we should live in peace with one another and that we should work to protect those who cannot defend themselves:

"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy." - Proverbs 31:8-9 (NIV)

Jesus himself said that we should love our neighbor as ourselves (see Mark 12:31) and take care of those around us (see Matthew 25:34-40). Anything less is cowardly and a sin against God (see Revelation 21:8).

In addition, 1 John tells us that anyone who claimed be in the light (a follower of Christ) yet hates his brothers is not truly a follower of Christ (see 1 John 2:9)

He also said we should love our enemies (see Matthew 5:43-48) and not strike back with similar violence (see Matthew 5:38-41).

At the same time, true peace can only come through Jesus Christ. John 14:27 tells us:

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." (NIV)