Lacy Cagle (Ecochallenge.org Staff)

I've been thinking about this question a great deal in the last two years. First, I think demonstrating my commitment to peace and justice means living within those principles, even while in conflict with those who disagree with me. That means meeting insults with understanding, anger with comfort, harm with healing. It isn't easy, and I fail more often than I'd like. If I don't feel up to it I try to remove myself from the situation so I don't make it worse.

That being said, we can't cede our right to exist--to the space and food and water and shelter and community we need to live--to those who would deny us those things.As Lacy and Raffi pointed out, the tools of communication we discussed can be used as weapons against us. Active listening can't force someone to respect our rights, and it's impossible to build consensus with someone who is participating in bad faith.

What are we to do, then, when we're confronted with the intentional subversion of those values? What's the answer to the paradox of tolerance?