An effective way of dealing with a disagreement is simply to listen with complete attention even if we don't care for what the other person is saying. - Eknath Easwaran, August 1, "Words to Live By"
BFO: love the Confederate flag for it set us free. That was a note to myself in the early days of my realizing that the answer is love not hate no matter the question or the conundrum. Love will reduce its power, hate will grow it more so.
According to me, the same is true of the swastika, the "N" word, and other signs and symbols that generate our fear-born hate. It is our fear that consumes us, our fear which we choose to call hate. Hate sounds stronger, less cowardly, plus bringing a feeling of justified.
In our willingness to give over to the hated, our hate burns within us, and love is lost in its ashes. Our Father which art in Heaven is still within, but we have built us another god, the god of Other...not you, not them, not theirs...just Us, fortified by our fear.
I submit that we diminish ourselves when we fight or ban symbols of hate. Let the Confederate flag stand for what it is...an historic symbol for an unjust cause that lost...lost because it was a wrong cause...lost to the just cause of love for all humans who are created equal...lost because God created all humans equal.
I doubt any such fear-filled hate symbol would stand for very long...without the passion of hate, it has no reason for being, no meaning.
Thank you.
No comments:
Post a Comment