Evil people don’t exist

Or, let me say rather, purely bad people don’t exist. Misguided, lost, broken, confused people do.

When people do very wrong things, it’s because they have come to believe a story that allows them to. And when you encounter such a person, you have two options: You can either physically stop them, hurt them, kill them — and in extreme times, you may lack any other choice. Or, you can challenge the story they believe.

When I saw the video of the elderly Israeli woman leaving her captor, what I saw was a young man who had likely grown up hating Israelis. And although this elderly woman was his hostage, her gentle nature was challenging his story. In her, he likely saw reflections of his own elders.

Violence is swifter, less complicated. Kill the evil ones, and if you’re not sure, kill extra to be safe. But then you must get them all, for imagine the stories those who survive will have. Imagine the acts they will use those stories to justify.

It turns out, the violent solution is a little more complex, as shortsighted solutions usually are. Dialogue may seem boring, yet challenging each other’s stories appears to be the only constructive path forward.

Yet, among all these religious folk fighting, so few have faith in the possibility of peace or the will to work towards it.