people are never the enemy

Hate the sin, love the sinner. Hard on problems, soft on people. Don't hate the player, hate the game. There are many different ways to articulate this principle, but they all speak to the same core concept in nonviolence: people are never the enemy, injustice is. The very idea that we can continue to use force, fear, and intimidation to enforce our will over another person to get what we want is the problem. The belief that attacking individual people and overpowering them to try and solve our issues in any sustainable way is the problem.

People are not our enemy. Violence is our enemy. Injustice is our enemy. Any worldview that stands against life, love, and community is the enemy. When we stop seeing people as our enemy, the framework for how we bring about transformation in our relationships and in society changes drastically.

When we see that reconciliation of relationships and movement toward Beloved Community is our ultimate goal, we see that the ways we try to make change must be aligned with this principle.

- Kazu Haga, a teacher and practitioner of nonviolence, restorative justice, meditation, community organizing and movement building.