Aren't you strangely amazed by the simplicity in this image? It seems to embody the idea that peace will come if we just love people who abuse, persecute and hate us. We all have probably heard of people that naively tell such things to abused wives - it is like they do not understand the nature of an enemy relationship. Some people simply get an evil pleasure from hating others. Here are a few quotes from peaceful men about this idea:
Non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as is cooperation with good. -Gandhi
He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
Now I am not saying that we should not love our enemies or those who do bad things. I am simply saying that we should not expect them to change simply because we love them. On the flip-side, I do think that we will change when we learn to forgive and love our enemies.
We live in a sinful world and often things do not always turn out as we think they ought to. The problem with giving people naive expectations is they can give up on the whole thing if they find their expectations are not met. I agree, we need to love our enemies even if they do not come around. (And unfortunately they often will not.)
ReplyDeleteThanks Mike! I really appreciate your insightful thoughts and comments.
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