Editorial July 17, 1995 Issue

The right kind of protest

Barbara M. Vining

When innocent people, especially children, are victims of evil—such as in the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City, or as the result of some other violent act—all kinds of emotions are stirred within the human heart. Perhaps more than anything else, we become keenly aware of the priceless value of each individual. The reckless disregard for human life represented by the violent act stirs us to protest. And we should.

While you and I may not be directly involved in investigating crime, tracking down suspects, and taking steps to see that justice is done within the laws of the land, we can be more than agitated or mesmerized spectators riveted to human speculation and hearsay. We can engage in protesting—affirming—the truth of God and man within our own consciousness. This will free us from any tendency to be so overwhelmed by the evil deeds of evilminded individuals that we are drawn away from seeing and cherishing man's inherent goodness as the child of God. We can protest by treasuring and expressing that goodness with more attentiveness, diligence, and love-impelled determination than we ever have before. This kind of protest, far from ignoring evil, contributes to the reduction of evil in our own lives, as well as in the general atmosphere of human thought, thus improving the quality of life for everyone.

While sin is to be condemned, and must inevitably punish itself, we miss so much that is worth treasuring in ourselves and in one another when our attention is fixed on human error. And as if that were not bad enough, we make no real headway against human imperfections, sin, or disease when these are uppermost in our thought. On the other hand, to devote ourselves to recognizing and appreciating the good in ourselves and in one another can have quite the opposite effect. This was illustrated to me in a gentle, though vivid, way at a music studio where one of our sons took piano lessons.

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