From In a Time of Broken Bones: A Call to Dialogue on Hate Violence and the Limitations of Hate Crimes Legislation

A Justice Visions Working Paper from the American Friends Service Committee, by Katherine Whitlock, 2001; 45 pp; visit www.afsc.org/justicevisions.htm or contact Community Relations Unit, AFSC, 1501 Cherry St., Philadelphia PA 19102; 215/241-7126.

"The existing criminal justice system, based on a vision of justice as punishment and retribution, is an essential part of a broader culture of domination that requires the perpetuation of inequality and violence. In the end, this constricted vision has nothing more to offer us than a world consumed by policing: a world in which the semblance of security rests on exclusion. In such a world, while we do not even know our neighbors, we are deeply suspicious and resentful of them nonetheless. We will do anything, permit anything, in exchange for the promise of protection: for ourselves, our value systems, and our possessions. We will willingly sacrifice the human rights and even the lives of others, if we are led to believe that is what it takes.

"Only by shouldering one another's burdens of injustice along with our own can we transform our curse of fear, hatred, and human brokenness that afflicts our society into the blessing of just, generous, and compassionate community. Organizing "anti-hate" rallies or creating programs promoting tolerance and appreciation for diversity is not enough, so long as power and privilege continue to be inequitably distributed and used to deny rights and recognition.

"AFSC believes that God calls us not only to seek justice, but to be justice, and we understand justice to be the societal expression of love. We believe that love and justice must come to replace fear and insularity. We are called to work in partnership with many others to replace the corrosive politics of fear, greed, and resentment--which seems so firmly in the ascendant--with compassionate and emancipatory practices rooted in the moral vision and ethical integrity of spiritually centered nonviolence. This is how we are called in our own day to follow the ancient practice, found in every major spiritual and ethical tradition, of transforming adversity into compassion, compassion into love, and love into justice."

To Overcome Evil with Good

From the September 11 statement of the Fellowship of Reconciliation. Contacts: Janet Chisholm and Richard Deats, 845-358-4601 <fellowship@forusa.org>

In this time of national tragedy, we look with compassion on all the victims: the dead, the wounded, their families and loved ones. We mourn this rending not only of the national fabric of our community life but also of the wider world community of which all humanity is a part.

Sept. 23, Boston © Ellen Shub

With shocking suddenness we find ourselves in the position of so many in the world who live in fear and senseless violence. We are humbled by our vulnerability. Can we learn from all those who have responded to such tragedies with nonviolence, perseverance, and noble purpose, such as the Women in Black, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the Mothers of the Disappeared and the Murder Victims Families for Reconciliation? Justice and peace are realized through just and peaceful means, for means and ends are inter-related. Will we determine to carry out special acts of kindness by reaching across lines of difference with goodwill and compassion? Will we seek to overcome evil with good? This is not a time for panic, suspicion, and hate. It is a time to draw upon the deep resources of faith and to examine our lives in the light of the oneness of the human family and the divine spirit that animates us all.

From a Statement by the Dalai Lama

There are two possible responses to what has occurred today. The first comes from love, the second from fear. If we come from fear we may panic and do things--as individuals and as nations--that could only cause further damage. If we come from love we will find refuge and strength, even as we provide it to others.

This is the moment of your ministry. This is the time of teaching. What you teach at this time, through your every word and action right now, will remain as indelible lessons in the hearts and minds of those whose lives you touch, both now, and for years to come. We will set the course for tomorrow, today.

At this hour. In this moment. Let us seek not to pinpoint blame, but to pinpoint cause. Unless we take this time to look at the cause of our experience, we will never remove ourselves from the experiences it creates. Instead, we will forever live in fear of retribution from those within the human family who feel aggrieved, and, likewise, seek retribution from them.

To us [Buddhist thinkers] the reasons are clear. We have not learned the most basic human lessons, we have not been listening to God, and because we have not, we watch ourselves do ungodly things. The message we hear from all sources of truth is clear: We are all one. That is a message the human race has largely ignored. Forgetting this truth is the only cause of hatred and war, and the way to remember is simple: Love, [in] this and every moment. If we could love even those who have attacked us, and seek to understand why they have done so, what then would be our response?

These are the questions that are placed before the human race today. They are questions that we have failed to answer for thousands of years. Failure to answer them now could eliminate the need to answer them at all.

A central teaching in most spiritual traditions is: What you wish to experience, provide for another. Look to see, now, what it is you wish to experience--in your own life, and in the world. Then see if there is another for whom you may be the source of that. If you wish to experience peace, provide peace for another. If you wish to know that you are safe, cause [others] to know that they are safe. If you wish to better understand seemingly incomprehensible things, help another to better understand. If you wish to heal your own sadness or anger, seek to heal the sadness or anger of another. Those others are waiting for you now. They are looking to you for guidance, for help, for courage, for strength, for understanding, and for assurance at this hour. Most of all, they are looking to you for love.

My religion is very simple. My relgion is kindness.

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