I was torn between “freedom” and “violence” due to all that
is going on around us. The conflict of
freedom through peace versus the need to react to the violence being perpetrated
on those who could not stop it. The death
of a young woman peacefully protesting or the mob beating of a young man by a
group of cowardly thugs. Take your pick,
both have me seething. I struggle with
my reactions to this incomprehensible behavior.
I simply. Do. Not. Understand.
However, I cannot give up on my beliefs that to create a
better world for those I love and our obligation to do so for future
generations requires that be done through peace and love. Violence and hate simply do not work. Never have and NEVER will.
I have been reading a lot from those who inspire me most for
their courage of peaceful resistance and commitment to peace. It includes Dr. King, Aung San Suu Kyi, Nelson
Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Einstein, and Socrates just to name a
few. The truly remembered great humans
in history are those who focused on peace.
Who understood to truly have freedom you must achieve it through
peaceful methods.
To have freedom also means to peacefully fight to end
poverty, to stop inequality at all levels and to stifle hatred and
bigotry. Believing in a perfect utopian
world is simply not realistic. Sadly,
and inexplicably, there will always be those who hate. My Mom, when I first came out to her, told me
she was afraid for me, but told me, “Well I guess there are people who hate you
because you have blond hair. Some people
just want to hate.” Yes, and sadly, some
people do simply want to hate. I don’t
get it, but that is just the way it is.
We, however, must fight this “normalization of hate” with
every peaceful breath we have. Stuff it
back down where those who wallow in it realize that good and decent human
beings do not stand for this bullshit!
But, NEVER with violence.
Please.
If you participate in counter rallies to all the hate filled
events planned around our nation this weekend or in the near future, do so with
love and peace. I leave you with a quote
to ponder.
“What has violence ever accomplished? What has it ever created? No
martyr's cause has ever been stilled by an assassin's bullet. No wrongs have
ever been righted by riots and civil disorders. A sniper is only a coward, not
a hero; and an uncontrolled or uncontrollable mob is only the voice of madness,
not the voice of the people.” – Robert Kennedy
Namaste,
Tom
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