Huffington Post interviewed two monastics at Plum Village. The message? Acting out of a place of anger does not help. People who are passionate about taking action should learn from the nonviolent approach of Rev. Martin Luther King. When we are at a place of peace and love, we can offer recognition to others, to […]
Not truly free…
I am not truly free if I am taking away someone else’s freedom, just as surely as I am not free when my freedom is taken away from me. The oppressed and the oppressor alike are robbed of their humanity. — Nelson Mandela
A practical reason to Love
Reason and Love might seem to have nothing to do with each other, but interestingly enough, anger can be dispelled by being open and curious – i.e. emotion checked by reason. High emotions (such as Fear) or strong convictions can lead to motivated reasoning – where pre-existing attitudes or beliefs lead to rejecting factual information. […]
Judge actions, not people
We need to judge actions, not people. We need to see that every child of God has moments of behavior that does not define who they are. We can continue to be Loving of the person while saying that what they do is wrong. This is, however, not the same as “love the sinner, hate the […]
ArchDuke on loving racists
Charity Croff (Facebook user ArchDuke) has this to say about Love: We still must hold everyone accountable, but from a place of love. Love them enough to accept them, love them too much to let them stay hateful…
Love drives out fears
How do we come together, especially after we have disagreed in a non-loving way? We start with Love. Rev. William Barber preaches this message. He speaks out against those who would oppress and invites them to join in a loving fusion coalition. How do we address fear? We start with Love.
Love your neighbor
This is in Leviticus 19:18 and Matthew 22:39. Islam promotes this message in several ways. When we start with love, our problems and differences can be resolved.
A champion dies
Muhammad Ali, a man who was famous for boxing, was a pacifist and a loving man. He objected to our fighting in Vietnam. He spoke out against hate. “We as Muslims have to stand up to those who use Islam to advance their own personal agenda” — Muhammad Ali
We must be the Good in the world
“Good†and “Evil†are not some mysterious forces “out there†that come and afflict us. God and the devil are not in some big battle for our souls or the universe. We have free will, and with free will comes the possibility that people will act in egregious ways. James Luther Adams wrote “we deny the […]
Peace, Fear, Oppression, Actions…
Oppression is a violation of human rights. No person has the right to act in a way that is intended to make others fearful of them. No one has the right to deny others the freedoms expressed in our Constitution. The white supremacists who gathered at Stone Mountain on April 23, 2016, have oppressive racist views […]