Today's MOZEN: Reject Violence 12/21/2014

Words and Photo by F LoBuono

I detest violence in all its forms. I reject it. I condemn it. There is no place for it. No excuses. Violence degrades the abuser to the same degree as the abused. There are no winners - no real victors, for the victims are never truly vanquished. Violence simply perpetuates hate in a never ending cycle of revenge.

Often, compassion is mistaken for weakness. However, those that do so make a grave mistake, for the opposite is true. It takes the greatest of courage to reject anger, hate, violence, and brutality, especially in the face of those who would so gladly inflict it upon us. The easy way is to strike back and hit them even harder! But, do not yield to that flash of anger. The more difficult choice is to reject that impulse.  Understand the anger within you and then place where it belongs - somewhere that monster can do no harm.

If we believe that, ultimately, good triumphs over evil, we must also know that this is not a scenario that just happens just by itself. We have to help it along the way by reaching a level of compassion where love always triumphs over hate. People will laugh and say that this way of thinking is the worst kind of naivety: the meek will NOT inherit the earth - they will be beheaded! However, if this is the case why do we bother with morality, spirituality, and divinity? It's always been strange to me that the people usually most vocal in calling for revenge and espousing hate are the ones who consider themselves "religious". The whole point of religion and morality is to become, in a sense, divine. Christians strive to become Christlike. Buddhists yearn to be come the Buddha, and so on. And the way to become so is to value love above all else.

It's never easy and I have more questions than answers. I know that fanatics like ISIS must be stopped. Yes, sometimes, we must fight - literally. But, even then, we must reject brutality. We must understand that nothing happens in a vacuum. Our enemies' hate is a response to our own and so on and so forth! To reject violence in the end is the only way to break the cycle. The question remains; who will have the courage to do so first?