Hatred, Violence Wilt When Confronted by Love, by John Smith

The following is an essay written by a young man of seventeen for an essay contest sponsored by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel newspaper. I was moved by his understanding and compassion; and want to share this and hope you find it equally affecting.


Hatred, Violence Wilt When Confronted With Love
By JOHN D. SMITH
Riverside University High School
From the Jan. 11, 2004 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

No matter who you are you have experienced one of many -isms.

Whether it was racism, sexism or ageism, all people have undergone some form of discrimination. How do you combat these prejudices?

Should you retaliate in a heinous act of violence or use brusque language to tell your offender how you feel?

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a man who "fought" for peace, justice and equality. His style of "fighting," however, entailed neither physical violence nor harsh, slanderous language, and yet everything he struggled for he gained.

Dr. King, as well as other civil rights activists, such as Ghandi, believed that the best way to combat the forces of evil was with love.

This belief may seem too vague, or not make sense to a person who thinks inside the box, but to the abstract thinker this simple concept can induce change in not only our communities but also in our nation, and possibly the world.

Ghandi, a civil rights activist who used the power of love to trump the forces of evil, stated the axiom, "Violence only begets violence." This small, but powerful quote is a good explanation of why so much hatred is present today.

Violence, whether physical or verbal, causes retaliation in a similar form and in the end benefits no one.
Love, however, neutralizes hatred and is beneficial for everyone, but this is not always the easier of the two to display. The main reason people choose to be violent or display hatred is because it can produce quick results, whereas love may take 10 times as long to resolve a similar dispute.

Love is more powerful than hatred because it has the propensity to evoke love from the person showing hatred, and as a result making the world a better place.

It has been said that if you don't learn from history it is bound to repeat itself.
At this very time it is repeating itself simply based on the amount of violence and hatred seen ranging from petty bouts to more elaborate and deadly wars. Each can be avoided if the principles that Dr. King and Ghandi used were being applied to the situation. (That is not to say the principles were not applied but to say that you should not give up so easily when applying them).

From violence to many prejudices, hatred is affecting the world in a major way. A well-known song phrase asks the question, "What's love got to do with it?"

My response: everything! Love has the ability to change everything around us. It has the ability to rid people of their stereotypes, and destroy the walls of hatred which box many people in.
It is love which enables us to turn the other cheek when we were wronged, and it is love which can strengthen humanity, opposed to hatred, which cripples it.

In order to make our communities, our nation and even our world a better place, we must first better ourselves. To accomplish this, we must put aside the "eye for an eye" mentality and take up and give love. By doing so we restore the moral cloth that has been eaten away at by the moths of hatred.