Driving Out Hate

News
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Quote
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."
— Martin Luther King Jr.

My Thoughts
Many people have causes or positions that they love to defend. Republican, Democrat, Global Warming, Anti-War, etc... The list goes on and on. The very act of choosing and saying this way is right can oftentimes cut you off from even being able to consider another position or option. This can be dangerous because you start judging the other side as wrong and also anyone that believes in the other side as wrong. If the other side is wrong then you may start disliking them, and if you continue down that path you can actually start to hate them.

I'll share a story that may help illustrate this point. As many of you are aware I grew up in Philadelphia. I managed to stay out of gangs, but had numerous fights with them when I was in high school and sometimes after that. My younger brother on the other hand got involved in gangs early on and eventually started selling drugs, stealing, etc.. This lead him to prison.

Gangs. Obviously the people that belong to a particular gang think that their way is the right way. All the other gangs are wrong and in many cases the other gang should be eliminated or forced out. My younger brother would hate someone just because they were from a rival gang. He didn't know the person at all but he still hated them. Occasionally the gang he was involved with would fight other gangs, sometimes they would be victorious (although in reality there is no real winner) and other times members of his gang would be hospitalized or killed.

Now it may be easy for you to sit here and judge this. It's easy to sit here and say that's stupid or I would never do that. Or they are all scum and should end up in prison or dead. These are all things that I've heard at one time or another. The problem with that line of thinking is that it doesn't solve anything. Hating them will only create more hate. Instead trying to look at them with compassion can help you to understand them better.

How can you look at them with compassion?

People always choose what they assume to be the best option at the time. Unfortunately due to perception most people can't really see what the best option is at the time. Realizing this can help all of us to stop judging others.

Why should you look at them with compassion?

Well besides all of the most important spiritual reasons, looking at them with compassion can allow you to create loving solutions. Solutions that can actually help to change the situation for the better.

I challenge you this week to consider someone's viewpoint that differs from your own.

Have a beautiful week.