I frequently get asked
“What’s your way to respond to injustice and oppression?”
And I want to answer that question now.
Anger is one way to respond.
Some people believe strongly
that the anger that naturally boils up in us
when we confront injustice
can be positive.
They believe
anger fuels action that brings about positive change.
I don’t say
that their way is wrong,
especially if it doesn’t just shift injustice
from one side to another.
It’s their way.
My way is different.
My way is drawn from the example of luminaries
whose works for peace
inspired the world
and led so many out of oppression
and into a new life.
One of them,
Nelson Mandela,
the great South African leader,
described leaving prison
after 27 years of confinement.
He said,
“As I walked out the door
toward the gate
that would lead to my freedom,
I knew if I didn’t leave
my bitterness and hatred behind,
I’d still be in prison.”
For far too many people around the world,
injustice and oppression
aren’t just abstract concepts.
They’re part of daily life.
Take the recent example:
the ceasefire just reached between Israel and Palestine
may cause reporters to pack up their cameras
and move on to the next “hot spot”,
but that doesn’t mean
the very real problem of what to do with the anguish
people feel
over what just happened goes with them.
Whether it’s happening to us directly
or it’s happening to others
whose stories touch us deeply,
our reaction to injustice can be a wound in itself.
My way to respond to injustice?
I’d say
to start
we must hold on to our human dignity.
Resentment and bitterness
are poisons that affect us first.
We mustn’t lose ourselves
in the darkness of negativity around us.
It’s my belief
that any actions we take
against injustice
and oppression
can succeed
if they are free
of the intention to oppress others.
History teaches us
that works based in unity and peace endure;
those bred of violence
never do.
My response is to put aside the dead end of tribalism
with its attitude of exclusion,
rejection,
and ‘us against them’ mentality.
What is injustice but a lack of balance?
We see all around us
the imbalance that tribal attitudes cause:
violence,
war,
and now disruption
in the very web of life that sustains us all.
Our faiths and traditions teach us
that by cultivating love,
not nurturing violence
and hatred that poisons us as well as others,
but by finding wisdom,
tolerance,
and purity of soul
within ourselves
we’ll start to find that balance,
that justice,
that we’re all seeking.
And so for myself,
I continue to have hope in the face of injustice.
That’s because
I absolutely believe what Nelson Mandela
expressed
so clearly,
“No one is born hating another person
because of the color of his skin,
or his background,
or his religion.
They must learn to hate,
and if they can learn to hate,
they can be taught to love,
for love comes more naturally to the human heart
than its opposite.”