Merely to resist evil with evil by hating those who hate us and seeking to destroy them, is actually no resistance at all. It is active and purposeful collaboration in evil that brings the Christian into direct and intimate contact with the same source of evil and hatred which inspires the acts of his enemy. It leads in practice to a denial of Christ and to the service of hatred rather than love.
Interpretation
Resisting evil with hatred only perpetuates more evil and denies the principles of love and forgiveness.
In this quote, Thomas Merton highlights the futility of responding to hatred and evil with the same negative emotions. He argues that such actions do not truly resist evil; instead, they entangle one in a cycle of hatred, preventing individuals from embodying the teachings of love and compassion inherent in Christian principles. By engaging in hatred, one becomes complicit in the very evil they seek to oppose, thus undermining their moral and spiritual integrity.
In practice
In a speech on social justice, one might quote Merton to emphasize the importance of responding to conflict with love rather than hate.
The devil is no fool. He can get people feeling about heaven the way they ought to feel about hell. He can make them fear the means of grace the way they do not fear sin. And he does so, not by light but by obscurity, not by realities but by shadows; not by clarity and substance, but by dreams and the creatures of psychosis. And men are so poor in intellect that a few cold chills down their spine will be enough to keep them from ever finding out the truth about anything.
Our vocation is not simply to be, but to work together with God in the creation of our own life, our own identity, our own destiny....To work out our identity in God.
Conscience is the light by which we interpret the will of God in our own lives.
You are made in the image of what you desire.
But if you want to identify me, ask me not where I live, or what I like to eat, or how I comb my hair, but ask me what I think I am living for.
I have the immense joy of being man, a member of a race in which God Himself became incarnate. As if the sorrows and stupidities of the human condition could overwhelm me, now that I realize what we all are. And if only everybody could realize this! But it cannot be explained. There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun.
All promise outruns performance.
The superior man, when resting in safety, does not forget that danger may come.
What she said was always strange. It had happened long ago. It seemed insignificant. And yet it was something you remembered forever. The words as well as the story. The voice as much as the words.
It is disgraceful to live at the cost of one's self-respect. Self-respect is the most vital factor in life. Without it, man is a cipher. To live worthily with self-respect, one has to overcome difficulties. It is out of hard and ceaseless struggle alone that one derives strength, confidence and recognition.
If anybody seeks your advice, offer right and sincere advice.
Envy and greed starve on a steady diet of thanksgiving.
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