Reply #114: I don't express "disgust" for soft-mindedness

[IrateCitizen]

I'm reading MLK's classic work, "Strength to Love" right now. In it, he speaks of the need to engage in the Christian concept of "loving one's enemies". In the course of this point, he devotes a lot of time to the idea of having a "hard mind and tender heart."

What you are expressing "disgust" with is the many tender MINDS that abound around us. By that, I mean those who are willing to allow their fear to dictate how they act, resulting in actions such as the support for waging war on others. There are also those who have hard hearts, who have no problem with endorsing wholesale slaughter for their own benefit.

But, on this point, King is quite clear: we MUST NOT engage in the embrace of negativity when confronted with softmindedness or hardheartedness. We must learn to (forgive me for invoking a completely Christian story here) act as Christ did on the cross when he said, "Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do." It is situations like this that highlight this truth. We must seek to transform these people through our words and deeds -- not to degrade them with our disgust for things they do which they know no better.