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rinueIn another of those entries that is too big for me to ever have time to write, I keep meaning to say that over the last few years I have observed in myself an increasing turn toward nonviolence as the only lasting way to effect political and cultural change. This is a strange thing for me; although I grew up knowing about the freedom marches, and admiring them, my eyes were always drawn toward the people with guns - sometimes attacking the marchers, sometimes protecting them.
Nonviolence is not natural to me. My natural inclination is to bring a carpet-bombing strategy to a knife fight. I am a small and angry person, a perrenial new kid who does not like to see my authority questioned, who at the first sign of threat escalates to a level intended to make a counterstrike impossible, hopefully with a larger deterrent effect. I am a gamer. Nonviolence has traditionally struck me as noble and inspiring, but limited. My thinking here is influenced by the fact that I'm a woman, and women are told to be peaceful and loving and conciliatory, and I don't see that it's worked out ideally well for us.
I have also known a lot of hippies with a lot of ideas that are definitely wishful thinking, and nonviolence seemed to plausibly fit in this area.
But as so many people have said recently about gay rights, each time I revisit the matter, I find my thoughts are evolving. I can't see any one thing that changed it. But I am increasingly persuaded that love is the answer, and I'm just really bad at it. But I'm trying to get better.
Video: Representative John Lewis speaking at the National Archives on the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington.
Nonviolence is not natural to me. My natural inclination is to bring a carpet-bombing strategy to a knife fight. I am a small and angry person, a perrenial new kid who does not like to see my authority questioned, who at the first sign of threat escalates to a level intended to make a counterstrike impossible, hopefully with a larger deterrent effect. I am a gamer. Nonviolence has traditionally struck me as noble and inspiring, but limited. My thinking here is influenced by the fact that I'm a woman, and women are told to be peaceful and loving and conciliatory, and I don't see that it's worked out ideally well for us.
I have also known a lot of hippies with a lot of ideas that are definitely wishful thinking, and nonviolence seemed to plausibly fit in this area.
But as so many people have said recently about gay rights, each time I revisit the matter, I find my thoughts are evolving. I can't see any one thing that changed it. But I am increasingly persuaded that love is the answer, and I'm just really bad at it. But I'm trying to get better.
Video: Representative John Lewis speaking at the National Archives on the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington.
