Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

EVOLUTIONARY POWER

Home

Home
New Visions
Loving the bad guys

Loving the bad guys

Last updated on: January 13, 2013 at 11:49 am by Julie Colwell

Loving the bad guys 2013-01-13T11:49:25-05:00 Julie Colwell

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Having had time to process some of my horror and outrage about the Newtown shootings, I’ve had time to muse on the greater implications. Specifically, I’ve begun to wonder what it means to be the shooter. The social isolate who finally cracks, the sociopath who is willing to terrorize, the copycat who phones in the bomb threat. Who are these people who exist on the edges of our society where one of our greatest needs is belonging? What do we do to bring them back into the fold?

I have some favorite stories that I carry in my head as something to aspire to.

A big, drunken man came onto a Japanese subway, terrorizing people as he walked through the car. They shrank away from him, frightened. Until one man stepped up and began talking to the man. Gradually, the big man calmed down, until finally he had his head in the smaller man’s lap, crying.

A man walked into a cabin, directly into the path of a rattlesnake. He froze as the rattlesnake coiled for a strike. The man breathed and expanded and began to meditate on how the rattlesnake was his brother, his ally, his friend. The snake hissed and then slithered away.

The Peace Pilgrim was a 72 year-old woman who decided to walk across America with nothing but the clothes on her back. She wanted to fully experience how God would provide for her. One day, she decided to hitchhike. A car pulled over and she got in. She immediately had the thought, “uh-oh, this was a bad idea. This man is dangerous.” So she put her hand on the man’s elbow and said, “Thank you for stopping. I feel so safe with you.”

After her year of walking, she went on a speaking tour. This man, now a close friend, accompanied her as her bodyguard, saying, “you know, you have to be careful about dangerous people out there.”

OK, let me be clear here–I’m not saying I could do what these people did. I am saying that I want to be able to do that.

At the NRA news conference, the lobbyist said, “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,” as he suggested that there be an armed guard in every school. Good guy, bad guy. Us, them. Get rid of the bad guys and we good guys will be safe.

I wonder what it’s like to be the bad guys, the ones who are willing to stalk and terrorize? What are they home doing? What is it like to be so much on the outside that the only way to find any significance is to make threats, and even to follow up with violence? What is it like to be so desperate that these men are willing to kill and then kill themselves?

Our animal threat brains know that the first action is to make sure we are safe, to defend against threat. Of course, this is exactly where it gets confusing about who is the good guy, who is the bad guy, as suddenly everyone has a good reason to be violent.

To get out of this endless cycle of escalation, there must be another path. It is the path that Creative Brain offers, where love and appreciation and acceptance take us out of Reactive Brain, the threatened animal response, and into the space of new possibility. Suddenly we might actually be able to step towards the bad guys, step in with them, love them. We might remember that every one of them was a baby who came into this world for their own life purpose.

Having stepped through this doorway of the 2012 earth changes, we’re stepping into non-duality. No good guys, no bad guys. We are the good guys and the bad guys, all wrapped into one. How do we love our animal threat brain so much that when we see it in others our only response is to embrace them, be with them until their reactivity can settle down and they are sobbing in our laps?

Blame

Co-Creativity

Creative Brain Communication

Taking responsibility

Uncategorized

gun violence

non-duality

Previous Post

December 24, 2012

Are you in balance with giving and receiving?

Next Post

January 13, 2013 Treasure hunting (for your True Self)

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Appreciation Authenticity Blame Blog Highlight Classes Co-Creativity Communication Creative Brain Creative Brain Communication Creativity Emotions Energy Essence Events Evolutionary power Generosity Health Inner Map Inspiration Integrity Love Manifestation News Podcast Presencing Reactive Brain Real Power Relationships S.E.W. Self-hate, self-love Taking responsibility Transparency Triangle Trust Unarguable truth Uncategorized video Workshops

Select a Month November 2017 October 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 January 2016 October 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 January 2014 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 May 2010 April 2010 January 2010 August 2009 February 2009 December 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 April 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What is the biblical view on telling the truth?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Speak the truth in love Use flattering words Lie to help others Stay silent always