“If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being."
-Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the current crisis in the U.S., all sides are forgetting this keen ethical observation by the prisoner of conscience, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
Various sides are claiming, self-righteously, that it is only their enemies who are wrong.
But actually, all of us humans to one degree or another are both good and bad.
"That means that when we oppose and criticize our enemies we ought to do so with an honest awareness of our own moral failings."Hate begets hate; violence begets violence; toughness begets a greater toughness. We must meet the forces of hate with the power of love...Our aim must never be to defeat or humiliate the white man, [or Black man or Brown man] but to win his friendship and understanding."
--Martin Luther King
A few Key Points:
#1 Free Speech is for everyone, even for those we think have evil views! It is truly scary that the counter-protesters--Black Lives Matter, etc.-- against the White Supremacists appeared to be seeking to deny the White Nationalists their right to assemble, protest, and speak.
#2 All of us need to more strongly than ever counter right wing (and left wing) racism, especially when overt racists act upon that racism and even murder others such as the horrific murderer of the young woman in the street.
#3 The Media needs to do a better job of objective reporting. Notice that in the coverage of the White Supremacist rally, nearly all media outlets identified the legal protest as that of White Supremacists, BUT failed to identify the “counter-protestors.”
Many of the latter were part of Black Lives Matter, a group which is anti-police, which claims that police in the U.S. systematically abuse, unfairly arrest, and attack Blacks.
This is mostly untrue. The vast majority of police officers serve and protect everyone. (I do know that a few police are racists, have heard it myself. But even they don’t treat Blacks wrongly when the latter are arrested during the commission of crimes.)
For instance, Black Lives Matter holds Michael Brown up as a hero, even though he was a criminal who committed a strong-armed robbery shortly before he was stopped by a police officer in Missouri!
Then Michael Brown, allegedly, attacked the police officer in his car. Yet Black Lives Matter, in an odd twist of reverse racism, claims that the police officer was guilty of racism!
#3 All political sides need to take a step back, meditate, learn to respond with empathy and humility toward their enemies.
The complex problems of the present (and the past and the future) aren’t solved by simplistic, political rhetoric and sloganeering.
ALL sides have both good and evil running right through their heart and mind.
#4 The removal of statues and monuments to past human leaders NEEDS TO STOP! We need to learn from the past, both the good and evil, not delete it from our public consciousness.
Nearly all of the first 12 Presidents of the U.S were racists, and many of them slave owners. Does that mean we need to take down the Washington Monument, the Jefferson Monument? Lincoln was a racist, so ought we to remove the Lincoln Memorial?
NO.
The past’s memorials, monuments, and statues ought to be used to teach, of how ALL human leaders’ actions are combinations of good and evil. Deleting their statues only worsens the already bad situation.
Those leftists who pulled down the statue to Confederate soldiers in North Carolina ought to be arrested for vandalism, trespassing, etc.
Not only did they do what is unlawful, it was immoral and unjust.
NO more memories from the past ought to be deleted from our public consciousness.
Napoleon committed many evil actions as did Oliver Cromwell, the Kings of England and France, the Roman Catholic Church, etc.
BUT
none of their statues ought to be removed.
Neither should any statues of leaders of the United States or the Confederacy be removed.
#5 The CENTRAL focus of current actions ought to be on grieving for the family of the murdered young woman, on seeking to counter the racism of many Americans including the overt horror of the White Nationalists.
We do best if we remember the emphasis of Martin Luther King, of how he emphasized we need to show benevolence toward our enemies, seek to help them escape from their evil views and actions.
#6 At legal protests, NO one ought to be allowed to carry weapons of any sort, certainly not guns.
#7 The police and National Guard ought to keep the opposing sides separate.
And, thanks to Starbucks of Camas, Washington and Hood River, Oregon while I am van-traveling. They made this brief post possible.
In the Light,
Daniel Wilcox
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