I love discussing social issues, but I'm not interested in scare tactics. I believe there is a way to bring awareness in tandem with forgiveness and love.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
In later life, we don't easily talk of fears, but instead we discuss our 'concerns.' Fear seems too primal and hysterical, but concern is polite and intellectual and nicely under control.
As long as anger, paranoia and misinformation drive our political debate, there are unhinged souls among us who will feel justified in turning to violent remedies for imagined threats.
As I've grown older, I've grown more convinced there's nothing that shouldn't be talked about. If we think we're protecting each other, we're not.
Life comes with many challenges. The ones that should not scare us are the ones we can take on and take control of.
We live in a frightened time, and people self-censor all the time and are afraid of going into some subjects because they are worried about violent reactions.
On a level of simple personal survival, understanding and forgiveness are crucial... whether in an intimate personal relationship or on a global level.
I have always believed in dialogue and in nonviolence, and if you look at my background you will see that it has always been my policy to talk to everyone.
My life experiences have helped me to be less fearful. In politics, that has allowed me to take on issues sooner rather than later.
Let us not look back in anger, nor forward in fear, but around in awareness.
I think we have to own the fears that we have of each other, and then, in some practical way, some daily way, figure out how to see people differently than the way we were brought up to.