That's a hard question to answer Lon.
My flesh says "yes", but my spirit says "no".
So, I don't know which I would chose in the situation.
I used to be the same. I was 16. I had just read in scripture to 'turn the other cheek.' I prayed hard and wrestled with God over it.
I told him I thought it 'sounded' stupid to me. That weekend, a bully came and started clubbing on me, literally for no reason.
I told him I wouldn't fight him (I was still wrestling with that verse, normally I'd have knocked him out, as I had other bullies in the past).
My nose was bleeding profusely, so he quit after that. The bully's friend started wailing on my cousin. I dropped the towel and was ready
to stop that and I was thankful, because I was pretty sure God wanted me to protect those around me. Just as suddenly, the kid stopped.
To this day, I wonder if it wouldn't have been better to punch the guy out and explain to him that the reason I'm this strong, is because God made me this way.
Years later, that bully came and apologized to me. I thought perhaps God had done something, but I found out that my brother had threatened him and gave him an ultimatum to apologize to me.
Both you and I come from rough neighborhoods. I have a couple of other stories of pacifism and how such turned out that I'll continue to share in thread, that we can all analyze what the best thing to do might have been as well as getting feedback on what God is doing with us. He is perfectly capable of saving us, and I've been saved by Him.
I have a thread, btw, of God saving His people and I think it very important, at this time, that we should talk about our brothers and sisters in Christ, who are being persecuted to death, for their faith in atheist and Muslim countries. I wish someone would start a martyr thread. We need to be praying a lot more for our brothers and sisters, persecuted and put to death for their love of the Lord Jesus Christ.