Author: Pat

Commitment to the principles of “No Hate No Violence” doesn’t mean that violence is never necessary and justified to defend yourself, your family, your community or your country. It doesn’t exclude defending those who cannot defend themselves against violence, and it is certainly sometimes necessary to protect life, liberty and property, just as it is sometimes the only recourse in countries with authoritarian dictators who use violence against their own people.

We would prefer to see authoritarian governments change their attitude towards violence in general and treat their people’s lives and liberty with respect. We expect the same from organizations in this country and around the world who claim to speak for “the people”. If there’s hate involved in how they operate, they need to be encouraged and educated to change that attitude because the violence that they bring about will be their downfall in the long run.

Violence and hatred beget violence and hatred. That is the stark lesson of history, and every child learns it early in school and on the street. Hatred proceeds unrestrained to violence; and violence breeds more hatred. Every time.

Look at all the people going from hate to violence every day in our country. We want to see the people in the world get rid of hate. Is that naïve to say? We don’t think so. It is a simple statement. Sometimes simple is all that’s needed to say.

Hatred is learned; no baby is born with it. All hatred is all taught and learned, so if you want people not to hate, then they will have to learn again. Learning can be taught to a person or be experienced by a person, but either way it has to occur if hate and violence are ever to diminish. We believe that the learning must include tolerance and understanding of each other because we’re each different from every other person, and we all have different thoughts and different ideas.

Violence is never a solution, unless it’s to defend life or liberty or human rights, individual or collective. Human rights are given to individuals, not just groups. The human rights of the individual –  that was what our forefathers wanted to promote and defend. They believed, as we do, that human rights are God given, they are natural, and they are individual to each person. Every individual has their own individual human rights, and to the extent that people value their own human rights, they can learn to change their attitude toward the human rights of others and this may be how, in the long run, to get rid of hate and violence. It’s not going happen overnight, but if as individuals we can start with ourselves then hopefully we can turn any rhetoric we find ourselves using or thinking closer to expressions of tolerance and understanding.

One of the reasons that this won’t be an easy or quick task is that so many people make so much money promoting hate at the expense of the vulnerable, which includes almost everyone – think about that one. How really vulnerable we all are when someone is spewing hate and preaching violence even when we think their hatred and violence is directed at someone else and not us personally. Whether we see it or not, we are all involved.

So every time we see the media or anyone promoting hate and violence, let’s ask who benefits? Not you or me or anyone or anything we care about, that’s for sure. Promoting hate is an evil way to make money , but we allow it because the haters shelter under “Free Speech”. We think that promoting hatred comes under Justice Brandeis’ definition that “the right to free speech does not extend to yelling “Fire!” in a crowded theater”. If we put the promotion of hatred in the same category as yelling “Fire” in a theater much of it would diminish virtually overnight – after a few high profile prosecutions with maximum penalties.

And while we’re at it, let’s demand more of the good news we know is out there. There are so many amazing individuals doing incredible things with their lives – let’s hear about them! It will make us all happier.   There’s no place in this world for hate, there’s no excuse for any voice that promotes hate towards any religion or culture.

Making the world a better place by rejecting hate and violence, and trying to be a happier person who is more loving toward others – that’s truly a religion as far as I’m  concerned.

We’ve been focusing so much lately on the development of WorldDebatingForum.com rather than posting on this blog that we feel a need to re-state why we’re dedicating ourselves to the philosophy of No Hate No Violence.

We very simply believe that if we can encourage this alternative ideology, over time the U.S and the world can become a much better place.

This human rights-based approach is a peaceful ideology that combats Hate and Violence, not only in religious or political attitudes but also by offering a pragmatic approach to coming up with solutions designed to stop hate.

Help us help others by sending us your solutions to Hate and Violence.

SO, WHAT IS THE NO HATE NO VIOLENCE PHILOSOPHY?

Simple. There Should Be No Place In This World For:

HATE OR VIOLENCE IN POLICE COMMUNITY RELATIONS

HATE OR VIOLENCE IN GENDER RELATIONS

HATE OR VIOLENCE IN RELIGION

HATE OR VIOLENCE IN RACE RELATIONS

HATE OR VIOLENCE IN POLITICS

What we need right now is an alternative ideology to combat terrorists, racists, bigots, religious zealots, radical politicians, and anyone else spreading hate and violence. If you hate anything; ask yourself why? Hate is a choice and everyone has the power to change their choices in life.

In America, we are fortunate to have free speech and the ability to believe in what we want. We can disagree with a belief and promote our own. What we should NOT do though is promote hate or violence to accomplish our goals.

No Hate No Violence is a safer ideology for all parties. And all individuals. It is an alternative approach to combat terrorists, racism, negative politics, and discrimination. Who can logically disagree with these thoughts?

Who can argue with it? Who should listen to them? If they hate, that is their problem. Show them how to make a change so they can talk without hate.

If you ask anyone if they believe in hate or violence, most would say no. So why then do we have so much in the world? Those who preach violence through the guise of religion and or for any other reason should not be able to benefit from the tax deductions recognized and provided by the U.S. Government.  Many other such benefits are wrongly given to those who promote violence.

If you have a hateful attitude, you may know some people who agree with you, but the majority of your peers, friends, family, and society probably do not. If you commit or promote violence in this world then someone – a group, a government, a country, or all the above will always be against you. Violence is the last resort for solving issues of any kind, and we all know that it simply doesn’t solve anything.

We all need to work on discouraging hate and violence in the world, which starts with us and our elected leaders and politicians. The more we identify with this ideology, the faster we can minimize hate and violence in the world, and the sooner we can help spread the message and have others do the same.

Human rights, especially women’s rights, need to be promoted again, and more often. The more we can eliminate, or minimize hate, the better the world will be. Some ideas will work better than others, but together we have the ability to change this ideology. It might take another hundred years to change all of this in the world and the way most people think, and approach hate and violence, but every person that adopts this type of thinking will help in the fight for peace and tolerance around the world.  The U.S. stopped promoting human rights around the world over the last several years allowing the problem to grow.

Also, if you can change your attitude and eliminate “Hate and Violence” the happier you will be. Hate does not make anyone happy.  If you believe in no hate no violence, scream it from the rooftops, share it with a community leader, a co-worker, your local politician.  Pass it on.

This ideology needs to spread to people who can honestly and passionately get behind it and influence it, individuals(s) who can develop it into policies and spread the word and transform these words into action.  Someone strong (like the American President) who could be honest about the human shortcomings we all have could do the most. We may not be able to eliminate all hate or violence in this world, but together we can significantly minimize it.  We can be the good guys again and create a platform from which we can work to eliminate the Hate and Violence we see spreading everywhere.

SHIFTING OUR ATTITUDE TO SHIFT THE WORLD

The longer I live, the more I realize how much impact attitude has on people’s lives. A person’s attitude is more important than education. It’s more important than money, circumstances, failures, successes, appearance or skill. It’s especially more important than what others think, say or do. The attitude of everyone involved will make or break a company, a church, a home – or a country.

Look at politics. A change in attitude could be one of the largest, fastest influences on our country’s political ideology. We need to go back to the days when politicians had an attitude of compromise. Instead of focusing on what they perceive will keep them or their party in office and in control, they should compromise for the people they serve. Politicians need to shift their attitude back to the time when they existed to help the people they are sworn to serve and who elected them to do so.

The change starts by shifting the political focus. Once politicians start focusing on the issues instead of gossip and their own special interests, the attitudes of the people will start to change. The silent majority will wake up, become proud of their country, and get involved in working for everyone, not just themselves. In turn, the politicians’ attitudes will continue to shift, and they’ll start working harder to agree instead of disagree. And the cycle will continue, moving the country closer to actually fixing our problems.

The remarkable thing is that this change is something we, the people, can make every day. Every day we have a choice regarding the attitude we embrace. We cannot change the past, nor the fact that other people will act a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. But we can change our attitude. And we’re the only ones who can change it.

I am convinced that life is 10 percent what happens to us and 90 percent how we react to it. So change how you react to all things in this world, and you might just change the world itself. Hopefully, our political leaders will actually lead us in this effort.

Hate-filled and disrespectful “free speech” is alive and well in the Democratic Party, which has been my party for 50+ years. The so called “debate” the other night was filled with nasty and embarrassing moments – again. No order, no self-control, no facts or fact checking, way too many straight-out lies, and the moderators quickly lost their grip on the process – again.
Who runs the best debates – go back and look. Who asks hard questions of all candidates, enforces the rules of debating, and never lets people talk over each other – all to make sure the audience can hear and understand what is being said. Whether you like what is being said or not – that isn’t the point here.

Saying what you disagree or agree with using facts and reasoning with respect – that’s debating. Pushing forward just points of view and facts that you like and ignoring, rejecting and disrespecting everything else – that’s not debating or helping the voters learn.
A debate should be about people discussing facts and ideas, making reasonable even if passionate arguments, and listening to each other. We did not hear a debate the other evening because of the lack of control by candidates and moderators alike, the hateful bickering, accusations and innuendos, with all the shouting and “look at me” grandstanding to grab attention. Again.
We at NO HATE NO VIOLENCE believe in debating done correctly with good facts and respect.

The nohatenoviolence movement is a big believer in open dialogue and people talking to each other with respect, and more importantly listening to each other. Our guiding thought is that “The most important part of free speech is respectful listening.”

As you may know if you’re a follower we’ve been working hard for over a year on a debating program called World Debating Forum for all types of debating, with a special emphasis on classroom debate – a vastly overlooked and very valuable style of debate. Through this no hate no violence website we will feature a series of Opensource books and resources for teachers, students and parents to be able to focus on every aspect of the art of debating. Debate has been declining in the United States, a loss that is largely attributed to budget cuts. We think that part of the decline is that debating has turned from a civilized intellectual sport to a fight to the death-style competition. But we would like to bring it back to its roots because we think ithat classroom debate could help a lot of teachers lighten their load and get more students involved in something fun and challenging that has been proven to help them learn faster and better.

We want more parents to get involved in what the kids and their children are doing because they can support their children in a fun way and it’s an activity that’s fun for those who would like it.

We’re talking about it to athletes, non-athletes and anybody who thinks they can benefit from debate. It would benefit the district, the students are already doing well and understand debating but we’re trying to reach out to the students who are struggling a little bit to give them a better opportunity to get excited about school, getting more cognitive thinking and redirect people like the bullies and the people who will struggle socially. This can actually bring them out into an arena that allows them to be much more socially active and learn by doing it because the kids are working on teaching themselves in an interactive way.

Those smart lucky students will have a positive life changing experience; entitled kids helping underprivileged kids will do more than anyone can ever do for both of them and society.

“72% of high-risk secondary school debaters graduate versus 43% of secondary school nondebaters.”

We know that these ideas have been embraced by some schools more effectively than others; we’re trying to help improve that. We want to encourage communities that can’t get their schools onboard to do it outside in other ways, like their community outreach through church’s boys and girls clubs or just organize a group. Let me just give you a few quotes that have been put out by the American debate league

“While only 50% of high school students in urban schools graduate 90% of urban school debaters graduate.”

High-risk secondary school debaters also score better on ACT and SAT tests to get into better colleges and they perform better once in college and in life in general.

Students do not need to be forever debating to see results; even one or two debate experiences improves performance though every semester a student debates their grades go up.

These are pretty good examples of how we can support and help our children, their teachers and the administration to get better results.

We at NoHateNoViolence.com want to say that Hate is a choice not an emotion. That important distinction sometimes gets lost when we see hate-filled peoples’ faces in crowds contorted with what may look like emotion. It isn’t. It is their soul showing on their face. The more we all understand this the more we all might think about how to minimize hateful thoughts, comments and behaviors.

Happiness is also a choice, and no matter where we are in life, we should try for happiness in every living moment.  Being happy as much as possible in life means quite simply that a person feels better and finds it harder to express Hate in thought, word or deed!

We would like to share this article by Kimberly Mikesh with you – perhaps it will help you find a little more happiness to share with others today!

“While some factors that affect happiness are out of our control (yes, genetics does play a role, as do current life circumstances), there are always actions we can take to amp up our good vibes. Consider trying a few of these – or all of them! – and you’re guaranteed to give your day a little boost.
1. Crank the tunes. Try NOT smiling while blasting your fave feel-good song (or 5).
2. Write it down. Did you know that taking the time to write down 3 positive things each day will make you more optimistic and less stressed? (And yes, we have an app for that 🙂
3. Get outside. Just a few minutes of fresh air can give you a fresh perspective.
4. Walk it out. A 20-minute brisk walk gets the heart pumping and will decrease stress.
5. Make a statement. With your accessories. A bold statement necklace, your too-cool-for-school shades or your favorite kicks can be all you need to turn a ‘blah’ day around.
6. Give yourself a boost. Of healthy nutrients! We’re talking fruit, veggies and protein. When your body feels good your brain will follow.
7. Leave a note. Make someone’s day by leaving a “you’re beautiful” note on the bathroom mirror.
8. Do something. Whether it’s sending an email or clearing the clutter off your dining room table, just getting one tiny little thing off your to-do list and onto the ‘it’s done’ list will give you a huge mental sigh of relief.
9. Say “thank you.” Even this small act of gratitude will boost your positivity.
10. Learn something new. Whether it’s reading a wiki about a topic that interests you or watching a quick Youtube tutorial, the digital world is full of ways to learn things fast and on the go. Yes, even happiness courses! 🙂
11. Be a good listener. Seeking out meaningful conversation is proven to improve your sense of well-being.
12. Let it go. You can boost your happiness by detaching from past negativity.
13. Straighten up! Our posture dictates how we feel, so straighten up and walk like a boss!
14. Try something new. Break out of your routine and mix things up! It can be as simple as walking down a different street – anything to just get off of autopilot and be present where you are.
15. Spend money. The trick is you have to spend it on someone else to get the ‘feel good’ perks, according to Harvard professor Mike Norton.
16. Text a friend. Reaching out to a pal and letting them know how awesome they are will make you feel awesome, too.
17. Make plans. Having something to look forward to, even something small like making plans to grab a cup of coffee with a friend, makes you happier. Anticipation is like a secret weapon of happiness.
18. Help someone. Feeling down? One of the quickest ways to pick yourself back up is to do something kind for someone else. Bonus feel good points when it’s random and not expected of you.
19. Stop comparing yourself. Chances are you always pick those at the very top to compare yourself to. No wonder you feel like you’ve come up short! Focusing on the things you’ve accomplished is a lot more productive.
20. Smile. In one research study subjects who smiled after a stressful activity decreased their heart rate more quickly than those who didn’t. It even works if you fake smile!
21. Power color. While we’re partial to orange of course, whatever your favorite color is, embrace it. Bonus: when you’re feeling down, treat yourself to a flower in your fave color. It will brighten the room and your outlook.
22. Treat yourself. Sometimes a tiny little luxury in our day is all we need to break out of a rut.
23. Read something. Be it your favorite guilty-pleasure celeb gossip mag or nerding out on your favorite blog, taking a few moments to indulge in something you truly enjoy will give you a burst of positive energy. Plus you might learn something (refer to #10).
24. Cute overload. Seeing something cute makes us smile which in turn makes us happier. The Cute Emergency twitter feed will rescue a bad day as quickly as you can say “Golden Retriever puppy.”
25. Think positive. No matter how bad things may seem, be grateful. Warm water on a cold day? Amazing! Cold water on a warm day? Incredible! You really are very lucky when you get right down to it.”

 We at NO HATE NO VIOLENCE don’t have an opinion on acts of the President, but do think we should not have such hateful dialogue because it’s dividing our country.

The Impeachment process and the State of the Union, are great examples of this strategy at work. Some of our leaders use of intolerance and hate to advance their agenda is disgraceful.

We need much more respectful dialogue with honest facts by all parties.

We need to unite this country by being more tolerant, and get back to respectful debating of real issues, like our forefathers did, and like they clearly expected (the Constitution!) those that followed them would do the same.

The time and money just wasted on an impeachment is wrong, when it was clear that the President would be acquitted from the beginning. Hateful politics only divides our leaders and our country.

Thank God the voters see that HATE is not the answer – honest debate will produce much happier and better results. Remember – happiness isn’t an emotion – it’s a choice.

NO HATE NO VIOLENCE