I came across this quote in my Social Autobiography of the American Civil Rights Movement class. (LOVE the class!)
“Through nonviolence, courage displaces fear; love transforms hate. Acceptance dissipates prejudice; hope ends despair. Peace dominates war; faith reconciles doubt. Mutual regard cancels enmity. Justice for all overthrows injustice. The redemptive community supersedes systems of gross social immorality. Love is the central motif of nonviolence. Love is the force by which God binds man to Himself and man to man. Such love goes to the extreme; it remains loving and forgiving even in the midst of hostility. It matches the capacity of evil to inflict suffering with an even more enduring capacity to absorb evil, all the while persisting in love. By appealing to conscience and standing on the moral nature of human existence, nonviolence nurtures the atmosphere in which reconciliation and justice become actual possibilities.”
Although this was written by James Lawson, an African-American nonviolent activist in the 1960s, its content applies to many battles our society is still fighting today. I love the relevance of this quote then and I love the relevance of this quote now.
Being on a college campus five days a week, I am now way more in tune with current events than I ever have been. Grand Valley has an excellent LGBT organization and strong push for acceptance of diversity on campus. This is one of the things that I really like about this university. One current event has particularly caught my attention. In recent weeks, there have been seven suicides of LGBT students. All under the age of 19. All boys. They all ended their lives because of bullying, cyber-bullying, hate crimes and prejudices. This is so sad. I want to stand up for these boys and tell them that they are loved. The fight against hatred towards those who are “different” than us is way more extreme than people realize.
This is the reason I love this quote so much. It applies just as much today as it does the day it was written. This is my heart, I had to share. Here are a few links to check out if you want more on this…
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130326132&ft=1&f=10617064
