I'm just going to say that I believe the ideal reaction to hatred is compassion, but without acceptance, without agreeing. Letting hate engender hatred, or anger engender anger in you means they win.
Factually, for most of us it takes years to wake up. No one expects it right away. (I don't expect everyone to be fully awakened instantly at all times. If you do, you'll be disappointed.) But that doesn't mean that we do not continually work to grow and be and better.
That black guy that has gotten so many KKK members to give it up and give him their robes doesn't do it through hatred. He does it by seeing them as suffering human beings. He does it with compassion. He does it by letting people know that they are seen. He does it by letting people know that they are valued. That's how we change the world. So says Buddha. So says Gandhi. So says Christ. (Yes, so says me.) Just sayin'.
You don't change people by pushing them away. You don't change the world by separating into us and them. You don't change the world with hatred. You change the world with love. You change the world with inclusion. You change the world one person at a time. And to be really clear, I don't mean one person that is already just like you. I mean the other, no matter how other they are.
Cultivate compassion. See the suffering in others. Cultivate love. That (whatever you think is the most horrible human possible) is just another suffering human being and you have to decide. How do you respond to suffering? It isn't about them. It's about you. Who are you? Who will you be?
17 July 2018
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