Re: Retaliate with love

Nan,

I understand your instinct and position, and I agree with the desire to be 
non-war like.  At the same time, I  have to say, many of us need to strike 
back.  I think the real challenge is reconciling that with a philosophy of 
non-violence - which I and many friends in the service-learning community have 
incorporated into our
life philosophy.

Nonviolence as expressed through Ghandi's soul force was never about being a 
victim or accepting victimization.   "Reacting" with love is good for peace and 
acceptance, and for some, healing.  But I don't see justice in just reacting.   
For many of us, we need some form of justice.   We need to "affirm life despite
ambiguities which seek to negate and destroy life." (MLK)   Even Ghandi and 
other students on non-violence have described that if our choice is between 
being a victim and acting violently, we need to act with violence.   
Fortunately, we are not at that point.   I am hopeful that there is a form of 
non-violent retaliation
that is for the courageous and creative to engage.

 "Retaliation with love" is as good a phrase as any for that kind of need - a 
desire to move beyond victimization while still holding dearly a faith in 
Nonviolence.    The phrase is a source of hope.

So, how do we go about finding justice without the eye for an eye which leaves 
us all blind?.  I don't know, but I am hopeful that conversations like this one 
- through the collective wisdom of all members of this service-learning 
community and our home communities - that we may find a way to think about 
these terrible
events.

One thought -   The attacks left thousands of dead, more wounded and the nation 
in mourning.   I watched a building that served as a focal point for much of my 
life as I grew up outside of new York City, fall yesterday.  And though we 
hunger for justice, nothing will bring that back.  Nothing will bring the 
people back  No
assasination, air strike, nuclear missle or war will change that.   That is 
part of the horror which we mourn, but it is also part of our hope. For me the 
finality of these attacks keeps a thin remaining sliver of hope for a 
non-violece retaliation alive.

My hope is not because I think the killers or the groups responsible don't 
deserve a violent reaction.   If anyone does, they do.   My hope for 
non-violent retaliation comes because, I don't think we deserve to be put in 
the position of becoming a killer of innocents like they were.

Action through service is one means of retaliating with love.   This group 
might be a good one to begin to identify the means for a service based 
reaction.  Can we start a list?

So far I have heard:
        *    Donate Blood
        *    Candle light Vigils
        *    Ribbons
        *    Meetings and discussion forums with students - especially to talk 
about anti-bias

Are there other ideas?   I will volunteer to help compile a list of actions we 
can take.

Even if all of these seem to fall short of the kind of justice or loving 
retaliation that we crave, we can remember a quote by another service hero: "I 
cannot do everything, but I can do something." (I admit - I forget the 
reference to that one :) )


peace, love & soul,

Tom Shields





NAN OTTENRITTER wrote:

> You all are going to HATE this -
> but I need to speak.
>
> I'm having trouble with the word retaliate - look it up in your computer 
>thesaurus and you'll find "hit back, strike back, even the score,get revenge, 
>etc. The word itself is reactive (love is proactive), it keeps track - "even 
>the score" (love does not keep track or keep score), and it comes from a frame 
>of we/they/war.
>
> I'd like to suggest saying "react with love" or something less war-like.
>
> I'm really not trying to be the language police, but language is SO 
>important. The more intentional we can be with it, the better our peace-making 
>efforts!
>
> Nan
>
> Nan Ottenritter
> Coordinator, Bridges to Healthy Communities, Health and Wellness
> American Association of Community Colleges
> One Dupont Circle, Suite 410
> Washington, DC 20036
> PH: 202-728-0200, ext. 230
> FAX: 202-833-2467
> nottenritter@aacc.nche.edu
> Check out AACC's webpage at www.aacc.nche.edu.
> "The miracle is not to fly in the air, or to walk on the water, but to walk 
>on the earth." Chinese proverb
>
> >>> "Clothier, Raymond" <clothrs@millsaps.edu> 09/12/01 11:29AM >>>
> Hearing from Stan on the efforts of those at LaGrange College to "retaliate
> with love" brought these words to mind:
>
> . . . Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a
> night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out hate; only light
> can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that. Hate
> multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies
> toughness in a descending spiral of destruction. . . The chain reaction of
> evil -- hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars -- must be broken, or
> we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation.
>
> Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,  Strength to Love, 1963, p. 51
>
> Peace to y'all,
>
> Raymond Clothier
> Associate Director of the Faith and Work Initiative
> Millsaps College
> 1701 N. State Street
> Jackson, Mississippi 39210
> Phone: 601 974 1470
> Fax: 601 974 1470
> clothrs@millsaps.edu <mailto:clothrs@millsaps.edu>
> http://www.millsaps.edu/faithwrk <http://www.millsaps.edu/faithwrk>
>

--
Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development Tufts University
105 College Avenue, Medford, MA  02155 (617) 627-4624  fax: (617) 627-5596

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