man in a "pretty red" MAGA hat given a note

[Liberty Belle]

23. Her action reminds me of Martin Luther King's quote on hate:

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

By resisting the temptation to respond to him with hateful and divisive words, she instead put hearts and called his hat "pretty" making it harder for him to reject her message. The fact that he took time to read the whole thing suggests he was thinking about this. The way to draw people out of hate groups is to treat them with kindness, according to those who have successfully deprogrammed some. Some of these people have probably never had much kindness, being raised in authoritarian homes.

Yes, they are deplorable people. But they are humans too, and something made them that way. Some are true sociopaths, but others are buying into propaganda of scapegoating, maybe looking to lift their own sorry lot in life. Helping them to see the human impacts on those they are demonizing, and show them there are kind people among those groups, is a positive step though a hard one to take.

I've been having some online discussions with a head of a local gun owners' group, who I sense is having some qualms over the synagogue shooting. I'm trying to encourage these folks that it's okay to speak out against certain actions of someone you voted for for other reasons. If you wanted someone who is strong on the 2nd amendment, that doesn't mean you should stand silently by while that president engages in fanning flames of hate against Jews, for example. I hope my words have gotten through to him.