Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that.
Hatred cannot drive out hatred,
only love can do that.
~ Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
In conversations about how to respond to horrific attacks, a message of righteous vengeance often boils to the surface. “Our enemy (person/ group/ leader) is evil,” say the aggrieved. “I'm sorry, but violence is the answer. We have to kill them.”
Violence is self-perpetuating. It can never break the cycle of violence. Fortunately, creative alternatives are available if we are open to them.
Dr. King's quote above, which I have typed out again below for easy copy-paste, guides me in this conviction. I'm amplifying it here as a balm for the toxic vortexes of comments-section flame wars on social media and elsewhere.
My proposal: add it as a contribution to conversations where good people are advocating for a violent solution to violence. This is the charge of the Lighght Brigade: to outwit the eons of social programming that suggest we have no viable alternatives.
Let's amplify love, instead. Let's bring a bun to a knife fight. Together, let's be light in the world.*
Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.
~ Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
* The sticker shown at the top of this page is available for free in the shop. It features Aram Saroyan's 1965 poem lighght, which I've unofficially commandeered and adapted to this definition: "The feeling of being a light in the world."