Thanks for this, Bill.
Trump's appeal is that he appears to be more "real" than your average politician. That careful sense of diplomacy that Trump avoids is generally very helpful, but by drawing a veil over the nub of an issue, diplomacy often seems second or third best and not very real.
It is a question for me how to be really kind in difficult circumstances. As soon as we bring in our group allegiances it gets complicated. Hostile action towards others, as in war, or protecting one's family, is at least as often driven by love and affection as by anger and hate.
Myself, I like the philosophy of nonviolence because it leaves the way open to being inclusive as well as real, leaving fear and hate behind. And it applies to relations between groups as well as between individuals.
Does the resolution of hostility at the individual level go hand in hand with doing the same at the international and inter-religious levels? I don't know how to be sure. Probably, but maybe it is actually easier to deal with the international, seeing as we are faced with the necessity of resolving things at that level.
#nvaction #interfaith
