“Jesus rejected hatred because he saw that hatred meant death of the heart, death of the spirit, and death of fellowship with the Father,” he writes. If he tries to deceive others, even if it’s to protect himself, he essentially becomes a con artist in the end. Eventually, he loses the ability to make moral distinctions.
Thurman argued that the first step toward reconciliation begins with redefining the people on both sides of these dynamics. When status categories are frozen, people from different groups come together as enemies. But you can confuse status categories by asking each other deeper questions. “How did you decide to live your life?” What questions had to be answered? These explorations begin the process of seeing others in their full dignity. They begin the process of sharing mutual values and values.
Next comes my favorite sentence from the book. “It cannot be overstated that we are dealing here with a discipline, a method, a technique, rather than some kind of wishful thinking or simple aspiration. .”
Discipline, method, technique.
In order to be a good citizen, it is necessary to have a warm heart, but there are also disciplines, methods, and skills necessary to live in harmony, such as how to listen well, how to ask and give forgiveness, and how to avoid misunderstandings. It is also necessary to learn. The other is how to have the conversation in a way that reduces inequality of respect. In a society where there is so much loneliness and mistrust, we neglect these social and moral disciplines.
Similarly, bringing about social change requires having good intentions, but it also requires learning the discipline and skills of effective social action. People in the civil rights community in the 1950s and ’60s spent a lot of time rigorously considering which methods worked and which methods were counterproductive. Thurman’s emphasis on methodological rigor and technique influenced Dr. King’s brilliant and often counterintuitive principles of nonviolent resistance.
1. This is not a method for cowards. It is active nonviolent resistance to evil.
2. Rather than defeating or humiliating others, we aim to win their friendship and understanding toward a loving community.
