I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate…cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr
I may not know a lot, but one thing I’m pretty damned certain of is that there’s far too much anger and hatred in our world. When a hate-driven, xenophobic gasbag like Donald Trump is the last clown standing in the GOP Presidential beauty contest, I find it hard not to wonder why we’re collectively so thoroughly addicted to rage and animus? How is it that we default to emotions that are so taxing and unpleasant?
It shouldn’t take Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and/or the Dalai Lama to convince us of the power of love and the destructive nature of rancor and animosity. We fall easily into the corrosive, toxic clutches of hatred, even as we ignore the lighter, far easier, and infinitely more accessible nature of love. We choose to exclude and discriminate against those whose humanity we diminish as “The Other” when acceptance, inclusion, and tolerance are much lighter and significantly less emotionally taxing. We cede our emotional landscape to our darker angels when the simple act of accepting and valuing people for who they are involves little emotional heavy lifting.
We live in a world in which those who hate loudly and unabashedly attract attention and acclaim. They’re celebrated as patriots and defenders of American values. Those who wish to destroy those who are different and grossly insult others are all over television and the Internet while those who traffic in acts of love and kindness too often toil in isolation and anonymity. Granted, conflict sells and, human nature being what it is, few would watch cable news for stories on the modern equivalent of Gandhi’s nonviolent revolution or the Dalai Lama discussing the importance of choosing love over hatred. Still, touchy-feely as it may seem, the bleeding-heart Liberal part of me still hopes that someday, somehow, we’ll learn that true peace can only be realized when the power of love overcomes the love of power.
Sadly, given the voices dominating our public discourse these days, that someday seems a very, very long ways off.
