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Thursday, March 3, 2016

Cutting Off The Chain of Hate And Evil


I'm reading the Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr. and came across this passage last night:

“Along the way of life, someone must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of hate and evil."

Passionately supporting a candidate I truly believe in feels like working towards cutting off the chain. Bernie Sanders supporters really do believe that he's trustworthy and truthful and that the policies he proposes are America’s only chance of escaping the grip of corporate greed and of breathing life into the middle class again.

Hillary Clinton supporters really do believe that she and her polices are America’s only chance of building on what Barack Obama has started and doing it in a way that will last, that she hasn’t been bought by Wall Street or lobbyists, and that she understands the complexities of world leadership better than Bernie Sanders.

How wonderful that there’s so much passion. But, whether I’m supporting Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton, if I trash their opposition and invent stories about them which I spread around liberally to try and turn support for them into revulsion I'm not cutting off the chain; I'm strengthening it.

And let's face it, I'm not doing it for truth and social justice. I'm doing it because I've got unprocessed anger and it feels good to hurt somebody.
“History has thrust upon our generation an indescribably important destiny—to complete a process of democratization which our nation has too long developed too slowly, but which is our most powerful weapon for world respect and emulation. How we deal with this crucial situation will determine our moral health as individuals, our cultural health as a region, our political health as a nation, and our prestige as a leader of the free world.”
It’s still a work in progress, Mr. King.