Protesting Hate
I see stories about groups such as the Westboro Baptist Church picketing Jewish Synagogues, public high school students, and even the funerals of American soldiers for supposedly going against their ideology. I am concerned by their actions, but even moreso about the message they send about themselves. I am sure groups that spread hate think they are doing right by their own misguided beliefs, but even if they do, nobody will be “converted” to their way of thin king by seeing protest rallies, or slogans shouted at them.
I was very glad to see that Donna Lieberman of the NYCLU reminded us that although Westboro’s right to protest is protected under the First Amendment, they do not have the right to intimidate, threaten and harass and schoolchildren. Even better, though, was the response from those schoolchildren who turned out in droves to peacefully, confront the group with signs of love. By protesting the hate that was being spread, they won.
The Baha’i Faith teaches us to respect each other and to love each other whether we have differences or not, and whether we believe the same things or not. We are forbidden from proselytizing the Faith and understand that people form their own judgments about people, about other religions, about homosexuality, and anything else in life through observation and direct interaction. No amount of protesting, or slogans will convince someone and only serves to convolute the message. We, as Baha’is, protest hate, and promote love and unity.
Consort with all the peoples, kindreds and religions of the world with the utmost truthfulness, uprightness, faithfulness, kindliness, good-will and friendliness, that all the world of being may be filled with the holy ecstasy of the grace of Baha, that ignorance, enmity, hate and rancor may vanish from the world and the darkness of estrangement amidst the peoples and kindreds of the world may give way to the Light of Unity.
~ Abdu’l-Baha, The Will and Testament, p. 14
Links