[*BCM*] Be the change you want to see in the world.

[turtle]

Boston Critical Mass <list at bostoncriticalmass.org> wrote:
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> turtle, you play the double standard. You keep advocating for this peace, be
> nice, be courteous stuff, but then you turn around and pick apart everyone's
> opinion but your own and then you just essentially told this person to move to
> baghdad. That seemed to me like a veiled insult. 

Hmmm.  I guess I see peace being very different from being inquisitive. 
I "pick apart" people's arguments to get at the core of what they
believe, so that we can all understand eachother better.  I have found
this to be extremely helpful with my own beliefs.  Many things seem one
way on the surface while being very different underneath.  I ask
questions to get to the juicy insides!

> If you want to see change happen, it isn't always going to occur in your
> particular way. In fact it almost never is. You need to have flexibility and you
> need to occasionally listen with an open mind. 

That's exactly why I made the suggestion to John that if he really
enjoys being angry and vengeful that maybe he would enjoy fighting in
Iraq, where that is the norm.  I'm not a fan of that kind of lifestyle,
but I can understand that others may be quite comfortable in such a
challenging and exciting atmosphere.  I just want everyone to be happy
the way they choose to live.  If that's what he wants, then why would
it be an insult for me to suggest he get what he wants?

> A lot of you never change your position, and that is suspect. I think people
> could prove a thing forwards and backwards and you wouldn't consider it unless
> it fit into this particular worldview you seem to have adopted. 

Absolutely!  I've changed my position many times.  Each time I hope that
my choice is improving on the previous ones.  But it's very true that
there is no one perfect world.  What works for me may not workd for
you.  And that's really why I frequently ask what people's goals are
and what it is that they really want.

> Of course I am saying big thing with limited knowledge, so I apologize if I am
> way off base, but I don't see a real dialogue going on here, just a stubborn
> debate. 

Not at all.  Constructive criticism is what makes us better.  Seriously.

Turtle

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"One day we must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal we
seek, but that it is a means by which we arrive at that goal.  We must
pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means." - Martin Luther King Jr.