Amid the violence and the hostile rhetoric, amid the disrespect and distortion of facts, the Humanity Project remains committed to our three core values: respect for all as well as the importance of diversity and self-worth. We teach these values to kids through our acclaimed programs, we work hard to practice them in daily life. But we see these values under attack. The United States is going through a highly challenging period just now. We have no doubt that in the end sane voices will be heard above the harsh din. We all will be okay.
What seems more uncertain, though, is how long this attack will persist and how much suffering it will cause before greater respect prevails. As a nonpolitical and nonreligious organization by law, the Humanity Project is not preaching politics here. What we are doing is calling for everyone who shares our values to unite in a peaceful and yes respectful movement. Indeed, we have long felt that a movement of this type is needed worldwide -- a large group of people joined in a common call for respect as a foundation for meaningful dialogue, a solid base for improving our civilization. Fine groups and small movements of all kinds exist already, of course: They ask us to work together for compassion, for peace, for a better environment, for fair wages, for gender equality, for the right to love and marry whoever we choose. But surely underlying all those significant goals is a more basic prerequisite: respect. Respect for self, respect for all others. Without this, it's hard to make progress in other areas.
With that in mind, then, we offer one more suggestion to those who might be sympathetic to a broad movement for respect. If these attacks on respect and decency continue for long in the U.S., we must consider a new approach in response. Nonviolence. No group that hopes to sway opinion within a modern society can hold the moral high ground by answering violence with rage or with more violence. No matter how understandable and justified such a response may feel. Gandhi, King and other great moral leaders -- they understood that nonviolence changes minds far more effectively than street battles ever can. We must as a nation, and as a world, find new ways to hold within us a fundamental respect for every human being. Even for those who want to harm us. That's not submission, not giving in. As history proves, it is the highest, most courageous and most persuasive form of resistance.
