Love Your Enemies Cyber-Post
For the Martin King essay, "Love Your Enemies," reflect on his notion of love. Why does King say we must love our enemy as ourselves? Was he always successful at this? How does he propose we do so?
Do you think Obama in the text is doing the same? What about in his position as President of the United States?
Use evidence from Dreams and from King's sermon to support your claims.
I posted the essay in the comment section of this post. Use one in-text citation(quote). Use a signal phrase, that is, introduce the speaker. For example: Martin Luther King says..."QUOTE" (page number)PUNCTUATION.
Post by Feb. 16, 2009.
For the Martin King essay, "Love Your Enemies," reflect on his notion of love. Why does King say we must love our enemy as ourselves? Was he always successful at this? How does he propose we do so?
Do you think Obama in the text is doing the same? What about in his position as President of the United States?
Use evidence from Dreams and from King's sermon to support your claims.
I posted the essay in the comment section of this post. Use one in-text citation(quote). Use a signal phrase, that is, introduce the speaker. For example: Martin Luther King says..."QUOTE" (page number)PUNCTUATION.
Post by Feb. 16, 2009.
posted by Professor Wanda's Posse at 10:24 AM
18 Comments:
Martin Luther King's Sermon: "Love Your Enemy"
I am forced to preach under something of a handicap this morning. In fact, I had the doctor before coming to church. And he said that it would be best for me to stay in the bed this morning. And I insisted that I would have to come to preach. So he allowed me to come out with one stipulation, and that is that I would not come in the pulpit until time to preach, and that after, that I would immediately go back home and get in the bed. So I’m going to try to follow his instructions from that point on.
I want to use as a subject from which to preach this morning a very familiar subject, and it is familiar to you because I have preached from this subject twice before to my knowing in this pulpit. I try to make it a, something of a custom or tradition to preach from this passage of Scripture at least once a year, adding new insights that I develop along the way out of new experiences as I give these messages. Although the content is, the basic content is the same, new insights and new experiences naturally make for new illustrations.
So I want to turn your attention to this subject: "Loving Your Enemies." It’s so basic to me because it is a part of my basic philosophical and theological orientation—the whole idea of love, the whole philosophy of love. In the fifth chapter of the gospel as recorded by Saint Matthew, we read these very arresting words flowing from the lips of our Lord and Master: "Ye have heard that it has been said, ‘Thou shall love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy.’ But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven."
Certainly these are great words, words lifted to cosmic proportions. And over the centuries, many persons have argued that this is an extremely difficult command. Many would go so far as to say that it just isn’t possible to move out into the actual practice of this glorious command. They would go on to say that this is just additional proof that Jesus was an impractical idealist who never quite came down to earth. So the arguments abound. But far from being an impractical idealist, Jesus has become the practical realist. The words of this text glitter in our eyes with a new urgency. Far from being the pious injunction of a utopian dreamer, this command is an absolute necessity for the survival of our civilization. Yes, it is love that will save our world and our civilization, love even for enemies.
Now let me hasten to say that Jesus was very serious when he gave this command; he wasn’t playing. He realized that it’s hard to love your enemies. He realized that it’s difficult to love those persons who seek to defeat you, those persons who say evil things about you. He realized that it was painfully hard, pressingly hard. But he wasn’t playing. And we cannot dismiss this passage as just another example of Oriental hyperbole, just a sort of exaggeration to get over the point. This is a basic philosophy of all that we hear coming from the lips of our Master. Because Jesus wasn’t playing; because he was serious. We have the Christian and moral responsibility to seek to discover the meaning of these words, and to discover how we can live out this command, and why we should live by this command.
Now first let us deal with this question, which is the practical question: How do you go about loving your enemies? I think the first thing is this: In order to love your enemies, you must begin by analyzing self. And I’m sure that seems strange to you, that I start out telling you this morning that you love your enemies by beginning with a look at self. It seems to me that that is the first and foremost way to come to an adequate discovery to the how of this situation.
Now, I’m aware of the fact that some people will not like you, not because of something you have done to them, but they just won’t like you. I’m quite aware of that. Some people aren’t going to like the way you walk; some people aren’t going to like the way you talk. Some people aren’t going to like you because you can do your job better than they can do theirs. Some people aren’t going to like you because other people like you, and because you’re popular, and because you’re well-liked, they aren’t going to like you. Some people aren’t going to like you because your hair is a little shorter than theirs or your hair is a little longer than theirs. Some people aren’t going to like you because your skin is a little brighter than theirs; and others aren’t going to like you because your skin is a little darker than theirs. So that some people aren’t going to like you. They’re going to dislike you, not because of something that you’ve done to them, but because of various jealous reactions and other reactions that are so prevalent in human nature.
But after looking at these things and admitting these things, we must face the fact that an individual might dislike us because of something that we’ve done deep down in the past, some personality attribute that we possess, something that we’ve done deep down in the past and we’ve forgotten about it; but it was that something that aroused the hate response within the individual. That is why I say, begin with yourself. There might be something within you that arouses the tragic hate response in the other individual.
This is true in our international struggle. We look at the struggle, the ideological struggle between communism on the one hand and democracy on the other, and we see the struggle between America and Russia. Now certainly, we can never give our allegiance to the Russian way of life, to the communistic way of life, because communism is based on an ethical relativism and a metaphysical materialism that no Christian can accept. When we look at the methods of communism, a philosophy where somehow the end justifies the means, we cannot accept that because we believe as Christians that the end is pre-existent in the means. But in spite of all of the weaknesses and evils inherent in communism, we must at the same time see the weaknesses and evils within democracy.
Democracy is the greatest form of government to my mind that man has ever conceived, but the weakness is that we have never touched it. Isn’t it true that we have often taken necessities from the masses to give luxuries to the classes? Isn’t it true that we have often in our democracy trampled over individuals and races with the iron feet of oppression? Isn’t it true that through our Western powers we have perpetuated colonialism and imperialism? And all of these things must be taken under consideration as we look at Russia. We must face the fact that the rhythmic beat of the deep rumblings of discontent from Asia and Africa is at bottom a revolt against the imperialism and colonialism perpetuated by Western civilization all these many years. The success of communism in the world today is due to the failure of democracy to live up to the noble ideals and principles inherent in its system.
And this is what Jesus means when he said: "How is it that you can see the mote in your brother’s eye and not see the beam in your own eye?" Or to put it in Moffatt’s translation: "How is it that you see the splinter in your brother’s eye and fail to see the plank in your own eye?" And this is one of the tragedies of human nature. So we begin to love our enemies and love those persons that hate us whether in collective life or individual life by looking at ourselves.
A second thing that an individual must do in seeking to love his enemy is to discover the element of good in his enemy, and everytime you begin to hate that person and think of hating that person, realize that there is some good there and look at those good points which will over-balance the bad points.
I’ve said to you on many occasions that each of us is something of a schizophrenic personality. We’re split up and divided against ourselves. And there is something of a civil war going on within all of our lives. There is a recalcitrant South of our soul revolting against the North of our soul. And there is this continual struggle within the very structure of every individual life. There is something within all of us that causes us to cry out with Ovid, the Latin poet, "I see and approve the better things of life, but the evil things I do." There is something within all of us that causes us to cry out with Plato that the human personality is like a charioteer with two headstrong horses, each wanting to go in different directions. There is something within each of us that causes us to cry out with Goethe, "There is enough stuff in me to make both a gentleman and a rogue." There is something within each of us that causes us to cry out with Apostle Paul, "I see and approve the better things of life, but the evil things I do."
So somehow the "isness" of our present nature is out of harmony with the eternal "oughtness" that forever confronts us. And this simply means this: That within the best of us, there is some evil, and within the worst of us, there is some good. When we come to see this, we take a different attitude toward individuals. The person who hates you most has some good in him; even the nation that hates you most has some good in it; even the race that hates you most has some good in it. And when you come to the point that you look in the face of every man and see deep down within him what religion calls "the image of God," you begin to love him in spite of. No matter what he does, you see God’s image there. There is an element of goodness that he can never sluff off. Discover the element of good in your enemy. And as you seek to hate him, find the center of goodness and place your attention there and you will take a new attitude.
Another way that you love your enemy is this: When the opportunity presents itself for you to defeat your enemy, that is the time which you must not do it. There will come a time, in many instances, when the person who hates you most, the person who has misused you most, the person who has gossiped about you most, the person who has spread false rumors about you most, there will come a time when you will have an opportunity to defeat that person. It might be in terms of a recommendation for a job; it might be in terms of helping that person to make some move in life. That’s the time you must do it. That is the meaning of love. In the final analysis, love is not this sentimental something that we talk about. It’s not merely an emotional something. Love is creative, understanding goodwill for all men. It is the refusal to defeat any individual. When you rise to the level of love, of its great beauty and power, you seek only to defeat evil systems. Individuals who happen to be caught up in that system, you love, but you seek to defeat the system.
The Greek language, as I’ve said so often before, is very powerful at this point. It comes to our aid beautifully in giving us the real meaning and depth of the whole philosophy of love. And I think it is quite apropos at this point, for you see the Greek language has three words for love, interestingly enough. It talks about love as eros. That’s one word for love. Eros is a sort of, aesthetic love. Plato talks about it a great deal in his dialogues, a sort of yearning of the soul for the realm of the gods. And it’s come to us to be a sort of romantic love, though it’s a beautiful love. Everybody has experienced eros in all of its beauty when you find some individual that is attractive to you and that you pour out all of your like and your love on that individual. That is eros, you see, and it’s a powerful, beautiful love that is given to us through all of the beauty of literature; we read about it.
Then the Greek language talks about philia, and that’s another type of love that’s also beautiful. It is a sort of intimate affection between personal friends. And this is the type of love that you have for those persons that you’re friendly with, your intimate friends, or people that you call on the telephone and you go by to have dinner with, and your roommate in college and that type of thing. It’s a sort of reciprocal love. On this level, you like a person because that person likes you. You love on this level, because you are loved. You love on this level, because there’s something about the person you love that is likeable to you. This too is a beautiful love. You can communicate with a person; you have certain things in common; you like to do things together. This is philia.
The Greek language comes out with another word for love. It is the word agape. And agape is more than eros; agape is more than philia; agape is something of the understanding, creative, redemptive goodwill for all men. It is a love that seeks nothing in return. It is an overflowing love; it’s what theologians would call the love of God working in the lives of men. And when you rise to love on this level, you begin to love men, not because they are likeable, but because God loves them. You look at every man, and you love him because you know God loves him. And he might be the worst person you’ve ever seen.
And this is what Jesus means, I think, in this very passage when he says, "Love your enemy." And it’s significant that he does not say, "Like your enemy." Like is a sentimental something, an affectionate something. There are a lot of people that I find it difficult to like. I don’t like what they do to me. I don’t like what they say about me and other people. I don’t like their attitudes. I don’t like some of the things they’re doing. I don’t like them. But Jesus says love them. And love is greater than like. Love is understanding, redemptive goodwill for all men, so that you love everybody, because God loves them. You refuse to do anything that will defeat an individual, because you have agape in your soul. And here you come to the point that you love the individual who does the evil deed, while hating the deed that the person does. This is what Jesus means when he says, "Love your enemy." This is the way to do it. When the opportunity presents itself when you can defeat your enemy, you must not do it.
Now for the few moments left, let us move from the practical how to the theoretical why. It’s not only necessary to know how to go about loving your enemies, but also to go down into the question of why we should love our enemies. I think the first reason that we should love our enemies, and I think this was at the very center of Jesus’ thinking, is this: that hate for hate only intensifies the existence of hate and evil in the universe. If I hit you and you hit me and I hit you back and you hit me back and go on, you see, that goes on ad infinitum. [tapping on pulpit] It just never ends. Somewhere somebody must have a little sense, and that’s the strong person. The strong person is the person who can cut off the chain of hate, the chain of evil. And that is the tragedy of hate, that it doesn’t cut it off. It only intensifies the existence of hate and evil in the universe. Somebody must have religion enough and morality enough to cut it off and inject within the very structure of the universe that strong and powerful element of love.
I think I mentioned before that sometime ago my brother and I were driving one evening to Chattanooga, Tennessee, from Atlanta. He was driving the car. And for some reason the drivers were very discourteous that night. They didn’t dim their lights; hardly any driver that passed by dimmed his lights. And I remember very vividly, my brother A. D. looked over and in a tone of anger said: "I know what I’m going to do. The next car that comes along here and refuses to dim the lights, I’m going to fail to dim mine and pour them on in all of their power." And I looked at him right quick and said: "Oh no, don’t do that. There’d be too much light on this highway, and it will end up in mutual destruction for all. Somebody got to have some sense on this highway."
Somebody must have sense enough to dim the lights, and that is the trouble, isn’t it? That as all of the civilizations of the world move up the highway of history, so many civilizations, having looked at other civilizations that refused to dim the lights, and they decided to refuse to dim theirs. And Toynbee tells that out of the twenty-two civilizations that have risen up, all but about seven have found themselves in the junkheap of destruction. It is because civilizations fail to have sense enough to dim the lights. And if somebody doesn’t have sense enough to turn on the dim and beautiful and powerful lights of love in this world, the whole of our civilization will be plunged into the abyss of destruction. And we will all end up destroyed because nobody had any sense on the highway of history. Somewhere somebody must have some sense. Men must see that force begets force, hate begets hate, toughness begets toughness. And it is all a descending spiral, ultimately ending in destruction for all and everybody. Somebody must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of hate and the chain of evil in the universe. And you do that by love.
There’s another reason why you should love your enemies, and that is because hate distorts the personality of the hater. We usually think of what hate does for the individual hated or the individuals hated or the groups hated. But it is even more tragic, it is even more ruinous and injurious to the individual who hates. You just begin hating somebody, and you will begin to do irrational things. You can’t see straight when you hate. You can’t walk straight when you hate. You can’t stand upright. Your vision is distorted. There is nothing more tragic than to see an individual whose heart is filled with hate. He comes to the point that he becomes a pathological case. For the person who hates, you can stand up and see a person and that person can be beautiful, and you will call them ugly. For the person who hates, the beautiful becomes ugly and the ugly becomes beautiful. For the person who hates, the good becomes bad and the bad becomes good. For the person who hates, the true becomes false and the false becomes true. That’s what hate does. You can’t see right. The symbol of objectivity is lost. Hate destroys the very structure of the personality of the hater. And this is why Jesus says hate [recording interrupted]
. . . that you want to be integrated with yourself, and the way to be integrated with yourself is be sure that you meet every situation of life with an abounding love. Never hate, because it ends up in tragic, neurotic responses. Psychologists and psychiatrists are telling us today that the more we hate, the more we develop guilt feelings and we begin to subconsciously repress or consciously suppress certain emotions, and they all stack up in our subconscious selves and make for tragic, neurotic responses. And may this not be the neuroses of many individuals as they confront life that that is an element of hate there. And modern psychology is calling on us now to love. But long before modern psychology came into being, the world’s greatest psychologist who walked around the hills of Galilee told us to love. He looked at men and said: "Love your enemies; don’t hate anybody." It’s not enough for us to hate your friends because—to to love your friends—because when you start hating anybody, it destroys the very center of your creative response to life and the universe; so love everybody. Hate at any point is a cancer that gnaws away at the very vital center of your life and your existence. It is like eroding acid that eats away the best and the objective center of your life. So Jesus says love, because hate destroys the hater as well as the hated.
Now there is a final reason I think that Jesus says, "Love your enemies." It is this: that love has within it a redemptive power. And there is a power there that eventually transforms individuals. That’s why Jesus says, "Love your enemies." Because if you hate your enemies, you have no way to redeem and to transform your enemies. But if you love your enemies, you will discover that at the very root of love is the power of redemption. You just keep loving people and keep loving them, even though they’re mistreating you. Here’s the person who is a neighbor, and this person is doing something wrong to you and all of that. Just keep being friendly to that person. Keep loving them. Don’t do anything to embarrass them. Just keep loving them, and they can’t stand it too long. Oh, they react in many ways in the beginning. They react with bitterness because they’re mad because you love them like that. They react with guilt feelings, and sometimes they’ll hate you a little more at that transition period, but just keep loving them. And by the power of your love they will break down under the load. That’s love, you see. It is redemptive, and this is why Jesus says love. There’s something about love that builds up and is creative. There is something about hate that tears down and is destructive. So love your enemies.
I think of one of the best examples of this. We all remember the great president of this United States, Abraham Lincoln—these United States rather. You remember when Abraham Lincoln was running for president of the United States, there was a man who ran all around the country talking about Lincoln. He said a lot of bad things about Lincoln, a lot of unkind things. And sometimes he would get to the point that he would even talk about his looks, saying, "You don’t want a tall, lanky, ignorant man like this as the president of the United States." He went on and on and on and went around with that type of attitude and wrote about it. Finally, one day Abraham Lincoln was elected president of the United States. And if you read the great biography of Lincoln, if you read the great works about him, you will discover that as every president comes to the point, he came to the point of having to choose a Cabinet. And then came the time for him to choose a Secretary of War. He looked across the nation, and decided to choose a man by the name of Mr. Stanton. And when Abraham Lincoln stood around his advisors and mentioned this fact, they said to him: "Mr. Lincoln, are you a fool? Do you know what Mr. Stanton has been saying about you? Do you know what he has done, tried to do to you? Do you know that he has tried to defeat you on every hand? Do you know that, Mr. Lincoln? Did you read all of those derogatory statements that he made about you?" Abraham Lincoln stood before the advisors around him and said: "Oh yes, I know about it; I read about it; I’ve heard him myself. But after looking over the country, I find that he is the best man for the job."
Mr. Stanton did become Secretary of War, and a few months later, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. And if you go to Washington, you will discover that one of the greatest words or statements ever made by, about Abraham Lincoln was made about this man Stanton. And as Abraham Lincoln came to the end of his life, Stanton stood up and said: "Now he belongs to the ages." And he made a beautiful statement concerning the character and the stature of this man. If Abraham Lincoln had hated Stanton, if Abraham Lincoln had answered everything Stanton said, Abraham Lincoln would have not transformed and redeemed Stanton. Stanton would have gone to his grave hating Lincoln, and Lincoln would have gone to his grave hating Stanton. But through the power of love Abraham Lincoln was able to redeem Stanton.
That’s it. There is a power in love that our world has not discovered yet. Jesus discovered it centuries ago. Mahatma Gandhi of India discovered it a few years ago, but most men and most women never discover it. For they believe in hitting for hitting; they believe in an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth; they believe in hating for hating; but Jesus comes to us and says, "This isn’t the way."
And oh this morning, as I think of the fact that our world is in transition now. Our whole world is facing a revolution. Our nation is facing a revolution, our nation. One of the things that concerns me most is that in the midst of the revolution of the world and the midst of the revolution of this nation, that we will discover the meaning of Jesus’ words.
History unfortunately leaves some people oppressed and some people oppressors. And there are three ways that individuals who are oppressed can deal with their oppression. One of them is to rise up against their oppressors with physical violence and corroding hatred. But oh this isn’t the way. For the danger and the weakness of this method is its futility. Violence creates many more social problems than it solves. And I’ve said, in so many instances, that as the Negro, in particular, and colored peoples all over the world struggle for freedom, if they succumb to the temptation of using violence in their struggle, unborn generations will be the recipients of a long and desolate night of bitterness, and our chief legacy to the future will be an endless reign of meaningless chaos. Violence isn’t the way.
Another way is to acquiesce and to give in, to resign yourself to the oppression. Some people do that. They discover the difficulties of the wilderness moving into the promised land, and they would rather go back to the despots of Egypt because it’s difficult to get in the promised land. And so they resign themselves to the fate of oppression; they somehow acquiesce to this thing. But that too isn’t the way because non-cooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good.
But there is another way. And that is to organize mass non-violent resistance based on the principle of love. It seems to me that this is the only way as our eyes look to the future. As we look out across the years and across the generations, let us develop and move right here. We must discover the power of love, the power, the redemptive power of love. And when we discover that we will be able to make of this old world a new world. We will be able to make men better. Love is the only way. Jesus discovered that.
Not only did Jesus discover it, even great military leaders discover that. One day as Napoleon came toward the end of his career and looked back across the years—the great Napoleon that at a very early age had all but conquered the world. He was not stopped until he became, till he moved out to the battle of Leipzig and then to Waterloo. But that same Napoleon one day stood back and looked across the years, and said: "Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have built great empires. But upon what did they depend? They depended upon force. But long ago Jesus started an empire that depended on love, and even to this day millions will die for him."
Yes, I can see Jesus walking around the hills and the valleys of Palestine. And I can see him looking out at the Roman Empire with all of her fascinating and intricate military machinery. But in the midst of that, I can hear him saying: "I will not use this method. Neither will I hate the Roman Empire." [Radio Announcer:] (WRMA, Montgomery, Alabama. Due to the fact of the delay this morning, we are going over with the sermon.) [several words inaudible] . . . and just start marching.
And I’m proud to stand here in Dexter this morning and say that that army is still marching. It grew up from a group of eleven or twelve men to more than seven hundred million today. Because of the power and influence of the personality of this Christ, he was able to split history into a.d. and b.c. Because of his power, he was able to shake the hinges from the gates of the Roman Empire. And all around the world this morning, we can hear the glad echo of heaven ring:
Jesus shall reign wherever sun,
Does his successive journeys run;
His kingdom spreads from shore to shore,
Till moon shall wane and wax no more.
We can hear another chorus singing: "All hail the power of Jesus name!"
We can hear another chorus singing: "Hallelujah, hallelujah! He’s King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Hallelujah, hallelujah!"
We can hear another choir singing:
In Christ there is no East or West.
In Him no North or South,
But one great Fellowship of Love
Throughout the whole wide world.
This is the only way.
And our civilization must discover that. Individuals must discover that as they deal with other individuals. There is a little tree planted on a little hill and on that tree hangs the most influential character that ever came in this world. But never feel that that tree is a meaningless drama that took place on the stages of history. Oh no, it is a telescope through which we look out into the long vista of eternity, and see the love of God breaking forth into time. It is an eternal reminder to a power-drunk generation that love is the only way. It is an eternal reminder to a generation depending on nuclear and atomic energy, a generation depending on physical violence, that love is the only creative, redemptive, transforming power in the universe.
So this morning, as I look into your eyes, and into the eyes of all of my brothers in Alabama and all over America and over the world, I say to you, "I love you. I would rather die than hate you." And I’m foolish enough to believe that through the power of this love somewhere, men of the most recalcitrant bent will be transformed. And then we will be in God’s kingdom. We will be able to matriculate into the university of eternal life because we had the power to love our enemies, to bless those persons that cursed us, to even decide to be good to those persons who hated us, and we even prayed for those persons who despitefully used us.
Oh God, help us in our lives and in all of our attitudes, to work out this controlling force of love, this controlling power that can solve every problem that we confront in all areas. Oh, we talk about politics; we talk about the problems facing our atomic civilization. Grant that all men will come together and discover that as we solve the crisis and solve these problems—the international problems, the problems of atomic energy, the problems of nuclear energy, and yes, even the race problem—let us join together in a great fellowship of love and bow down at the feet of Jesus. Give us this strong determination. In the name and spirit of this Christ, we pray. Amen.
Delivered at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama, on 17 November 1957. MLKEC.
Carla Poindexter
English 1A 9-10
King insists we should love our enemies as we love ourselves because love is an active force. If we use this active force called love on our enemies we can rescue them from hate, which is an evil way of life. This is evident when King states, "... there is a power there that eventually transforms individuals. ... if you hate your enemies, you have no way to redeem and to transform your enemies. But if you love your enemies, you will discover that at the very root of love is the power of redemption. That's why Jesus says, 'Love your enemies" (5).
King was always successful at loving his enemies because he truly believed it was the right thing to do. King truly belived in God, and the teaching of Jesus Christ. He was a baptist minister. He was dedicated to changing the world for the greater good of humankind. You can look at any of King's speeches, interviews, or demonstrations and see that King sincerely loved people, and deeply believed that loving your enemy was the ethical thing to do.
King tells us that we can love our enemy, "...When the opportunity presents itself for you to defeat your enemy, that is the time which you must not do it" (3). In other words if someone has done something wrong to you , do not be so quick to "get them back" by doing something wrong to them. " Love is creative, understanding goodwill for all men. It is the refusal to defeat any individual" (3).
I am not sure if President Obama truly believes we should love our enemies as we love ourselves. I know that many people compare Obama to King, but I am not sure why. I do believe that President Obama has a good heart, is a person of good character, and strong ethics. I also believe that Obama in this election, was the best candidate for the office of cheif executive. However, I know Obama does have a foriegn policy. Eventhough, Obama is seeking to right the wrongs of the Bush administration, it seems to me that he still believes in war. "Men take advantage of weakness in other men. They're just like countries in that way. The strong man takes the weak man's land" (40). I could be incorrect, after all these comments were made by Obama's Father. King of course was a supporter of Mahatma Ghandi's non-violent resistance teachings.
Rebecca Evans Eng. 1a 9-10 response to MLK love sermon 2/13/09
Loving your enemies is one of the most difficult feats anyone can attempt to conquer. How many times have we heard it…Hundreds! In church, at school by our parents, our teachers, maybe even our friends. Have you ever truly taken the time to consider its positive ramifications?
In a world where people believe happiness comes from the material possessions one obtains or the number in the bank account love is perhaps the last concept to enter our conscious. Therapists and physiatrists have spent thousands of dollars studying the negative effects of hate on out psyches, bodies and relationships. Dr. Martin Luther King reminded us of the importance of love in the 1960’s and Obama is reminding us now. However, if we had only listened to the first preacher of love, the first answer to hate and cruelty we would be somewhere quite different as a nation and world. King highlights that before written rule or history we were guided by an army of one man, Jesus, to instill the salvation of love through all creatures.
It is easy to preach the idea of loving your enemies. The larger and harder question is how does one put in into action? King helps illuminate this deep, dark, and incomprehensible answer through simple steps.
We are currently living in a democracy however; one would be hard pressed to find real evidence of such. King compares the U.S. government of the1960’s to the Russian communist government. At the time we were quick to object the communist government labeling it as “an ethical relativism and a metaphysical materialism” (King, paragraph 9). Only to realize we were far from the ideal of a democracy, “a philosophy that the end is pre-existent in the means” (King, paragraph 9). Democracy is perhaps the most intelligent and honest form of government to live in. We have been devout of this human right for the past eight years under the Bush administration, love was not a vocabulary word used in Bush’s speeches or addresses. Instead hate, justice, revenge were what guided him and in turn us. Where have the values of hate, discrimination, righteousness, and power landed America? We have landed in a deep recession, an undying hatred and a loathing pain.
To seek love one must not find fault in another but instead find good. God offers a solution that is within everyone. Naturally, everyone can not be happy go lucky and a “Peppy Pricilla” all the time. However, a simple and kind disposition, and a positive outlook on life can lighten your attitude as well as those around you.
To lighten the loads around you is a gift we are all capable of. It takes true strength and courage to not sink down to a level of that of your enemy. When a chance encounter occurs in which there is a motive or drive to harm one’s enemy the best and most positive action is to stand down,. This does not mean lying on the ground letting the car run you over but instead addressing each situation and action with a calm attitude. King discuses that by, “refusing to defeat any individual” (King, paragraph 15) we are in turn slowly braking down the morals on which the system of hate stands. In the words of Gandhi “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind”. We are living on a system of unstable hatred.
King uses the context of history to remind us of out follies. The ancient Greeks, from which many cultures have flowered, confronted the idea of love with three terms: Eros, Philia, and Agape. It can be difficult to separate the words as they all represent love. However, Eros favors toward a passionate love. Eros resonates with the love of a partner or in dating relationships. Eros is initially felt for a person, but with contemplation it becomes an appreciation of the beauty within the person and their soul. Philia refers more to the love in a friendship. It is meant as general type of love, including loyalty to friends, family and community. King addresses Phila in his sermon on loving your enemies. Philia is a general type a love for all, a mindset to let love be at the fore front instead of hate. Agape refers to the most powerful of all love; in modern day Greek the exact translation of Agape is I love you. It is used in the New Testament, described as the most powerful and influential love. It encompasses the love of god. God loves all creatures without judgment. Agape is the ideal, it points to the concept of accepting all creatures as god accepts us.
King suggests that the deepest and truest love we should try to imitate is Agape, the love of god. By embracing the love of god we allow ourselves to witness the truth; we are all equally loved by god so therefore it is right and just to love all creatures equally as well.
We have heard countless time to love our enemies, but why? A Jesus first preached, “hate for only hate intensifies the existence of hate and evil in the universe” (King, paragraph16). In the deepest traces of history we can chronicle hate. The person who can break the chain of hate is the strongest of all; they are the one who chooses not to fight back, but to offer love instead. In Gaza the Palestinians and Israelis are fighting a battle of hate, one dropped a bomb, so the other returned the “favor” and so on and so forth. The actual concept of the argument is lost and the reaction is an aggression and drive for hate. The same way hate breeds hate love will and can bread love. It is up to us to take small steps in love.
Hate not only hurts the one who receives the blow, it also “distorts the hater” (King, paragraph 19). People have evolved to become skeptical and devious in fear of hatred and difference. This boils inside one and produces psychological and physical commotion. Everything looks ugly through the eyes of hater. If all one concentrated on were negative things most likely only negative things would ensue for their life and only negative interactions would occur. However, if one can look past the hate so ingrained in us through history and try on love there is hope, what is there to lose?
Love only offers gains, it is a “redemptive power” (King, paragraph 22). People have an embedded feeling and need to fight and hate, this predisposition comes from history and evolution in response to our surroundings. This can be changed if we give it a little effort. Most people will egg you on for a fight or an argument. I suggest practicing being happy instead of being right. King used the famous example of President Lincoln’s relationship with his secretary of war, Mr. Stanton. The cabinet member threw horrible lies, disagreements and grotesque stores about Lincoln whenever possible. Through all these slurs, Lincoln still elected him as secretary of war. Lincoln took the higher road and decided to not give into Stanton’s taunts, knowing deep down Stanton was not happy with himself. Stanton eventually gave up and came to respect Lincoln. This is an example anyone can follow. Don’t give into hatred, instead make change, and try something new.
In response to Stanton’s change of behavior I recognize his inner struggles. Perhaps the most important aspect of love is the love for self. We all have faults and negative connotations. However; if we can come to better ourselves and accept ourselves we can heal the bitterness of hatred. To love oneself is a most difficult task. I am on the road to love but it is a long, never ending road. We can always make changes, editions, and gain knowledge. Being aware of ourselves and our love can open the door to many positive possibilities.
Imagine a world full of love. People currently exhibit resentment by using physical force, “caving in”, or using the radical idea of love. With a nation and world so devoted to power and materialism, I challenge us at god’s children to practice what his son Jesus taught us and give love a try.
Rebecca Evans Eng. 1a 9-10 Response to Carla Pointdexter 2/13/09
Obama does resemble Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in many ways. He is no doubt his own man; however. He brings the philosophies of King back to the surface. In King’s sermon he discussed the importance of loving your enemies, not as you love yourself per say but what love that is right and moral. If only we would have listened to him in the 1960’s, we would not be struggling with as much adversity. War and economy caused a lot of rifts between out nation with others and ourselves. In Gaza the fighting has become insignificant to any actual arguments. If love can be practiced for the sheer fact that God loves all and we can love all than we could deter from the war, deaths and economic downturn.
Jennifer Gonzales
English 1A
9-950a
Love Your Enemies Response:
Martin Luther King proposes many different ways for us to love our enemies and all of them I agree with.
While reading MLK's sermon what I understood to be true was that before you can love your enemies you need to find love and understanding in yourself. Martin Luther King says "I think the first thing is this: In order to love your enemies, you must begin by analyzing self" (1). I do agree with that statement because how can you love someone else if you cannot find that in yourself. He also says "A second thing that an individual must do in seeking to love his enemy is to discover the element of good in his enemy, and everytime you begin to hate that person and think of hating that person, realize that there is some good there and look at those good points which will over-balance the bad points" (2). I think it may be hard to do that with someone you hate so much because all you can think about is negative things about that person especially if you don't like them. I noticed it is hard for our government to do that also because all the war this world has been through was because of hate. Hate that was so strong that all the negative things out weighed the good and that is why we went to war. Martin Luther King said "Discover the element of good in your enemy. And as you seek to hate him, find the center of goodness and place your attention there and you will take a new attitude" (3). By looking at others goodness inside of them that is how we can try to love our enemies. Everyone is good, it is just up to us to open our hearts, minds and eyes and recognize that in them. Yes, people may do bad deeds but that does not make them a bad person. I know a lot of people whom you may think are bad because of certain things they have done in their lives but I know for a fact that they are not bad people. We must oversee the bad and search for the good. Martin Luther King says "Another way that you love your enemy is this: When the opportunity presents itself for you to defeat your enemy, that is the time you must not do it" (3). That is the most hard thing to do because if you are given an opportunity to hurt someone that you dislike then you will take it. It will make you feel better knowing that that person got what they deserve.
According to MLK, if you allow yourself to give in to such belittlment then you are only reflecting the same back to yourself. You become powerless because you cannot see that what you do affects not only yourself but the whole universe. In order to live a happy life, free from hate and animosity you must embrace it. Take all the negative energy and convert it into more positive energy. Anyone who can overcome hate by using love instead, will be so empowered that it will make them a stronger person. Martin Luther King says "The strong person is the person who can cut off the chain of hate, the chain of evil" (4).
I do feel Obama is trying to do a lot of what MLK has proposed when it comes to loving our enemies. As far as Obama's enemies go, the only people I can think of are the people who do not agree with his ideologies. I think Obama understands that not everyone will agree with him but that goes for all of us. I know that everyone will not like me, for whatever reasons but I will do my best in showing them love as I do for myself.
Andre Stephens
English 1A – 9:00 – 9:50
February 15, 2009
Love Your Enemies
On Friday, I was watching CNN and Governor Paterson of New York was talking about the tragic crash of a plane in Buffalo, NY, where all the passengers lost their lives. The governor had spoken to the families of the people who had been on the plane. He was talking about doing everything they could to assist the loved ones left behind and said, “We must love our neighbors as ourselves because they are ourselves”. I believe he was saying that we are all affected by this, it could have been any of us on that plane and we need to step up to the plate and help. Friday evening the governor was on Larry King Live and talked about a man going around to the family members offering them encouragement and when the governor went to thank the man for volunteering his time being there, the man told him his daughter had died in the crash. That reminded me of Dr. King’s message and how what this man was doing was a great example of putting aside your feelings, helping someone else get through a rough time and showing your neighbor the same love you would give yourself.
Martin Luther King gives several reasons why we must love our enemies as ourselves. The most important reason was because it was a Commandment from Jesus. The other reasons we must love our enemies is it is important for our nation to live on, and hatred only produces more hatred and evilness in the world. King believes that it takes someone with Christian and moral values to rid the world of hate and replace it with love. It takes a strong person to stop the escalation of hate. Love has a redemptive power so by showing love to your enemies, it can help break down the wall of hate. I didn’t read in this sermon where King wasn’t successful at showing love towards his enemies. I’m sure there were times when he fell short because no one is perfect, but his strong faith in God is what pulled him through.
Martin Luther King proposed the first thing we need to do in order to love our enemies is to look at ourselves and see what we need to do to make ourselves better, more like a self-evaluation. It’s difficult to show someone else how to act or what to do if you’re not doing it yourself. It is important to look for the positive that is in everyone and when it’s found, focus on that part.
I believe that President Obama is trying to do what Dr. King says we all should do about our enemies. In Dr. King’s sermon, he gave the example of how President Lincoln wanted to pick Mr. Stanton for Secretary of War even though Mr. Stanton talked about Lincoln and called him a fool. President Obama has a high opinion of President Lincoln. President Obama has selected Republicans to be a part of his Cabinet. I’m not saying they are his enemies, but they have been adversaries of the Democrats.
Martin Luther King says, “We’re split up and divided against ourselves. And there is something of a civil war going on within all of our lives. There is a recalcitrant South of our soul revolting against the North of our soul. And there is this continual struggle within the very structure of every individual life” (par. 13). I believe Dr. King is saying there is a struggle going on inside of us that has to do with good and bad and love versus hate. When Obama spoke at a rally for the African National Congress, he said, “I say, there’s a struggle going on! It’s happening an ocean away. But it’s a struggle that touches each and every one of us. Whether we know it or not. Whether we want it or not. A struggle that demands we choose sides. Not between black and white. Not between rich and poor. No-it’s a harder choice than that. It’s a choice between dignity and servitude. Between fairness and injustice. Between commitment and indifference. A choice between right and wrong…” (Obama 106). Dr. King and President Obama talk about a struggle that is going on. As a nation, we have to come together as one people and understand that there is no challenge that can’t be met or overcome if we set aside hate and work together in unity and love.
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Munkhjin Munkhbaatar
English 1A
9-9.50
Love your enemies
Dr. Martin Luther King talks about many good points about loving your enemy. I like the part when he talks about enemies are the people who make you stronger. And I agree with it because enemies always make competition with you and we will learn and discover many new things while we are competing with them. Also we learn many new things from our enemies. I think Dr. King was successful but not always. We always say we are going to do this and that and we never do it as we said.
President Obama is doing same in the text. He is saying that we should stand together as a one person to do something and it is the most successful way. Both Obama and Dr. King are making a same point.As a President of the United States his work is to help and give directions to solve the World economy crisis.
martin luther king says, " yes, it is love that will save our world and our civilization, love even for enemies."
he explains how one has agape love thats from their soul. how you love someone who does bad things but hate the bad deeds they do. this way of life is basic for martin luther king because he practices this is his philosophical and theological orientation as he says. it is hard for one to like someone because there can be any reason why one may not like another. and thats why god uses the word love and not like. martin luther king says,"Ye have heard that it has been said, ‘Thou shall love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy.’ But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven." and this is how he proposes us to do so. i believe obama is persueing this in his text. alot of stories are flashbacks and he tries his best to be sensible and loving. and as president he will pervail in loving thy enemies because he is a man of god, and those things have been instealed in him since childhood.
that comment id mine on top of this or below, i 4got to put my name.
JAMEISHA HARRIS
Nina Wooten
Eng. 1A
8-9 am
MLK: Loving Your Enemy
King says we should love our enemies because "hate for hate only intensifies the existence of hate and evil in the universe." This causes continuous cycle retaliation. He preaches about loving our enemies because it was something he has learned, practiced, and feels can make the world a better place. Although he preaches about loving our enemies was hasn’t always been successful at it, and admits that it is very difficult to show acts of kindness to those who "hate" you for whatever reason.
King proposes 3 ways to go about loving our enemies. The first step is to analyze self. He states we cannot help others when we do not know how to help ourselves. Our problems need to be identified and addressed before we can begin to love our enemies. The second step is recognizing that there is some evil in all good and some good in all evil. We have to discover the elements of good in our enemies and present them which will over-balance the bad points. Finally, do not try and defeat your enemy just because the opportunity is presented.
It takes time and commitment to actually love your enemy. Its not easy for respect anyone who disrespect you, however I do agree that hatred would only fill the world with aggression. I can see where Obama is coming from and how he wants our nation to to forgive those who have harmed us, because we may need their assistance inthe near future. I didnt fully understand the reason for the connection with Abraham Lincoln in the inauguration address but as I read "Loving Your Enemy" I understood that this was a perfect example for us to see how important it is for us to document history and look back on the things that were meant for us to carry on.
Nely Ruiz
2.16.09
English 1 A
9:00 am – 10:00 am
MLK and BHO Love Reflection
Martin Luther King has many different thoughts on Love. His ideas are different for different types of love. All his opinions are biblically based and the underlying principle can be found spelled out in the scripture. The concept of” loving your enemies,” he states, “[is] so basic to me because it is a part of my basic philosophical and theological orientation. (LN. 13-14) Martin Luther King’s foundation of ministry is based on this simple concept that is easy to speak about, but very hard to put in action. King breaks down the concept into steps so it is a little easier to follow in one’s own life. First we must, “begin by analyzing self,” King claims. (Ln.37) we need to look at our own faults before we can condemn anyone else. Jesus says, “How is it that you can see the mote in your brother’s eye and not see the beam in your own eye?” He knows the nature of man and knew that in order to achieve his command we must first look at ourselves and realize everything he has done for us, who sinned against him. How much more can we forgive someone who has committed a minor offense, when Jesus gave his life for our transgressions. (Bible) Barack Obama found out that this must be done in order to ever forgive someone who has wronged you and to love them without malice. Obama sees firsthand how black people are treated; students are a minority and tend to stick together. Frank, his grandfather’s poker friend, teaches him that successful black people are only, “well – trained, well –paid nigger[s], but a nigger just the same.” (p.97) Obama also sees what black people are calling Caucasian people, “them white folks.” He resents both sides; he hates being treated differently, but hate to see his own grandparents and mother referred in derogatory terms.
Barack Obama had to get the same revelation that Martin Luther King state, “Some people aren’t going to like you because you can do your job better than they can do theirs. And others aren’t going to like you because your skin is a little darker than theirs. So that some people aren’t going to like you. They’re going to dislike you, not because of something that you’ve done to them, but because of various jealous reactions and other reactions that are so prevalent in human nature.” (Ln.43-47) King is absolutely right people are weird and for whatever reason some will never like you. There are many reasons why, could have been the way you were raised, past experiences you had, or just the color or your nail polish sets them off forever. Obama learned the hard way that this is true in life. Some of his friends he never did see eye to eye, they were just too different, and therefore it was impossible to ever be compatible with one another. Regina, a female student is a prime example, they did not have the same view point on a subject, and so she refused to ever hang out with him again.
The next step King explains, “Is to discover the element of good in his enemy, and every time you begin to hate that person and think of hating that person, realize that there is some good there and look at those good points which will over-balance the bad points.” (Ln.75 -77) This is true when you see someone you hate, but are forced to interact with them in the workplace, they did advise you to pick out one characteristic about the person that is positive, and therefore, you can complement them on something. Barack points out the pros and cons of all his friends. Ray is Obama’s high school buddy two years older and grew up in Los Angeles. Ray gets a young Barack into parties with all the cool crowd; he meets girls, and starts becoming a sports jock. Obama does say that Ray exaggerates about his old life in Los Angeles; “the retinue of women who supposedly called him long –distance every night, his past foot ball exploits, and the celebrities he knew.” (p.72) Obama had to over look the bad habits or qualities of his friends; everyone has to in order to have a relationship with anyone. There is no perfect person to be a friend or a spouse, everyone has pet peeves and habits that will annoy you, so you must get over it and love them with all their faults.
That leads into Kings next point; when the time comes for perfect revenge on your enemy that you have tried to be understanding and nice to, you must not give in to the temptation. “Love is not this sentimental something that we talk about. It’s not merely an emotional something. Love is creative, understanding goodwill for all men. It is the refusal to defeat any individual,” King preaches. We need to show the greatest love of all to treat everyman as though he were GOD himself, agape love. We should love as God loves; he gave his only begotten son, so they everyone in the world would have a chance to have everlasting life. We need to view people through God’s eyes, if he loves them enough to sacrifice his son; the least we can do is show a philla love to our enemies.
Jose Vasquez
2/16/09
English 1A 9:00-10:00
Love your enemies
Martin Luther King talks about loving your enemies. What King means is that you should love everyone no matter what. In his letter he explains that we as people cannot judge someone else even though they might not do the right thing. He tells us that we should love everyone as a brother and a sister. King wants people to start loving their enemies because in the bible Jesus says that you should love your enemies. Also in the letter Martin Luther King talks of many reasons why you should love your enemies. One of the reasons is that once you feel connected to the people that hate you your going to understand the reasons why they hate you. He also states that not everyone is going to like you. That no matter what some people are going to hate you simply because of the way you look, the way you walk, and the way you think. King reminds us that in order to accomplish our dreams as a nation we should start working together and coming together like Jesus once said. President Obama and Martin Luther King have the same vision. They both want the United States of Americas to join together to overcome the challenges that we face. King wanted to join people from all races to come together to bring equality to all men and women. Barack Obama wants everyone to come together as a nation to fix the problems that we face now. They are two completely different persons, but with the same ultimate goal that is to unite as a country and fight for freedom, equality, and happiness.
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“Loving Your Enemies”
I believe that Martin Luther King Jr. says to love our enemies as ourselves because it will help overcome the hate that our enemies have in us. And if we do not love our enemies as ourselves, this hatred that our enemies have for us will continue grow and cycle through generations. As Dr. King states, “If I hit you and you hit me and I hit you back and you hit me back and go on, you see, that goes on ad infinitum.”(Pg 3) And he proposes we do this by discovering “the element of good in his enemy…”(pg 2) We must do this because there is some good in all of us even in those who have done evil to us. All of us some have done something evil to someone and each of us know that we are not evil because we do one thing it is because they have done something to hurt us.
For Barack Obama, I don’t believe he’s using this method, for example, “I began to count the days until my father would leave and things would return to normal.”(pg 68) Not to say that Obama hated his father or saw him as an enemy but he did not love him as if it was himself. And because of that they’re relationship is strained. There relationship as far as I’ve read isn’t that good due to their first time meeting each other. I believe that if Obama showed him love when they first met there relationship would not be so dense.
Paola Garcia
English 1A 8:00-8:50
Feb 16 2009
One of the best gifts that we can take from Martin Luther King’s essay “Loving Your Enemies” is the understanding of the importance of love “this command is an absolute necessity for the survival of or civilization. Yes, it is love that will save our world and our civilization, love even for enemies.” (1) Love is a powerful weapon to have by your side; it is vital to know that love goes beyond the material definition that we are use to have. In my personal opinion I think highly of the definition that Martin Luther King gives to love “It’s not merely an emotional something. Love is creative, understanding goodwill for all men.”(2)
Following the same line King’s essay tells us how we need to understand and analyze or enemies so we can know them. If we know our enemies and we stop seeing them with hate, they stop being objects and they start been human beings. It is fare to say that when we love our enemies we have our heart at peace. This doesn’t mean that we have to agree with them or having them in our immediate circle, is just means we have no hate towards them. If love is a powerful weapon, hate can be even worst. I agree with King when he states that “hate for hate only intensifies the existence of hate and evil in the universe” (3) this dark feeling can be compare with a cancer. It grows quietly and with out any warning it consumes your mind. When a person is full of hate it is really hard to think clearly and the worst part is that they are not able to enjoy the beauty of life. In Kings own words “hate distorts the personality of the hater.”
To tell the truth I believe Obama’s book is fool of love; the love he never received from his father. He tries to search the reason of this absence in the stories that he is told by his mother and the old pictures he sees in the dusty album. I don’t believe he saw his father as an enemy but he wanted to love and to be loved by a paternal figure so he needs to understand him. Maybe he wants to answer so many questions so he can understand himself a little bit better as well. As far as his campaign goes I don’t believe he preaches love in the same way that the King did. It has a lot of similarities but it is not identical. They do share the same passion in their speeches; and they do approach circumstances with their heart at peace.
Hong Tang
English 1A
9-9:50AM
“Loving Your Enemies”
I personally think it means that what is harder than loving your enemies and if you can adapt that step in life, your path will be easier to reach. You must understand the concept of relationship towards one another. Loving your enemies doesn’t exactly means to love them but cherish them because they might be the person that is building up your confidence. Maybe you can see it as a game. A game where you have to play fair and kind to win. At most point, hating your enemies are just like letting them take control of this game. You must learn to face reality and face your enemies. Martin Luther King stated this because of discrimination towards African American. As we all know in history, segregation and discrimination was really strong. He believes violence does not stop this incident. Learning how to forgive one and another is the key to freedom, equality, and happiness.
Maria Mitchell
English1a
Martin Luther King says.. “But there is another way. And that is to organize mass non-violent resistance based on the principle of love. It seems to me that this is the only way as our eyes look to the future. As we look out across the years and across the generations, let us develop and move right here. We must discover the power of love, the power, the redemptive power of love. And when we discover that we will be able to make of this old world a new world. We will be able to make men better. Love is the only way.”
I truly believe that as a species we must learn to get along. That we have made so many advances in science, technology, medicine and more yet we still cant learn to “love our enemies” and find a way towards peace in this world serves to condemn our species to failure. Our inability to do this is created from fear, that fear manifested by ignorance and untruths. As Dr. King stated “It seems to me that this is the only way as our eyes look to the future.”
I do believe that Barack Obama shares these ideals for the world. He has long struggled with hatred and bigotry in his own life and the lives of the people he has served. I find that although politics is not always the best stage for peace making, Barack Obama wishes to reinvent his role on the world stage in this regard. I believe he does see that for a true new world order to evolve and for all of us on this great blue ball to not only survive but prosper, we must learn to “love our enemies” and get along. I see him a true visionary and man of unusual character and boldness. I believe he understand that what America has come to represent over the past few decades has lost its way in the search for how true freedom is defined. If we believe in democracy for all, then we indeed must mean for all.
Its is in this concept of “loving thy enemy” that we as a people, citizens of the United States as well as the entire world must aspire to. Its surely not an easy idea for so many to embrace. Its unfortunate that I far too often see the inability to “love thy enemy” in those who claim to be faithful their various Gods. The hypocrisy of this is not only sad but also infuriating. How do they justify hate in the name of their god? I am an atheist yet I feel that love is the only answer. I don't even feel the need to ascribe the idea to the teachings or doctrine of any entity. It is merely the golden rule- 'Do unto others as you would have then do unto you.” This is an essential ethic of reciprocity in many of not most religions yet is so often ignored as doctrine.
Our fate lies in our ability to see past our own selfishness, greed and bias. Its is time to let our guards down and learn to embrace our differences. To find what we do share and to celebrate and not only learn from what others have to offer but to also grow as human beings. To evolve to this kind of love would truly be a blessing. Otherwise we remain less than animals. Love is the answer. To not head this call is to fail. Failure just can not continue to be an option.
I hope that Barack Obama and other peace and love supporting peoples will find the strength and solidarity of purpose to finally make headway in this ever tumultuous world.
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