NOTE: I am probably not going to say this in a way that is completely inoffensive to 100% of the people who read it. I'm going to have to deal with that. Or rather, I guess, the people who are offended are going to have to deal with that. I'm speaking from the heart, and I can't go around apologizing for the product of what I know is a good, kind, compassionate, empathetic heart. So... here goes.
Nazis are bad. I hate them. I hate what they stand for, I hate what they do, and the moment I am in a situation where I have an opportunity to punch one, or kick them in the balls, or in any other way make them feel even 1/1,000,000th of the pain and confusion they create in the world, I will do that. I am not a physically strong person (although I'm working on it), but I am committed to that, because while I do believe the world is full of ambiguous gray areas that are up for personal interpretation, for me, that would not be one of them. Nazis are bad. Fascism is bad. People who want other people to die because of their skin color, race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identification, or anything else that makes them different are bad. I don't have compassion for anyone who willfully and actively lives a message of hate.
What will I NOT do? I will not make someone feel "less than" because they genuinely believe punching nazis is not the answer. I will not make someone feel like they're not a good enough activist because their activism doesn't include something mine demands. I will not make someone feel like they aren't trying hard enough, or thinking hard enough, or aren't "woke" enough, because it's simply not part of their personality to act on their anger with any type of violent response. I will not hold someone who I know to be a genuine, authentically good person who holds the same beliefs as I do re: equality responsible for my own personal offense. I will not cut off someone who is trying to have a dialogue with me about issues I know we both care about, even if we see different solutions. I will not make someone feel like a piece of trash because they aren't quite "there" yet, if I can see that they are honestly trying to get there.
Our brains are, biologically speaking, lazy. They want things to be easy. They love habit. They love utilizing the same neural pathways over and over and over again because they want to use the least amount of energy as efficiently as possible. Changing your mind is hard. Learning to think differently is an active process that requires lots of energy. Maintaining a constant level of effort over a sustained amount of time is something ALL of our brains are being required to do right now. Every day, we're all learning things, hearing another perspective, finding out that even among people who are all, theoretically, on the same side, there are thousands of viewpoints to consider and process. That's difficult work for our inherently lazy brains, and I applaud anyone who continues to do that hard work every day. I will not try to make you feel terrible because on some of those days, for just a little while, your lazy brain wants to take a break and just eat cake.
To sum up: If you're trying, we're cool. If you fail sometimes, or even a lot, but are self aware enough to recognize that and keep trying to do better anyway, we're friends. As long as I can see you're trying, I will be patient with you, I will support you, and I will have your back. You have value. You are good. You are good enough, and I love you.
