If we're constantly suppressing our strong, heavy emotions - like fear and anger and outrage and sadness - it weakens us. But when we're not afraid to confront the hard emotions - when we don't turn away from the pain and the suffering of the world - it builds the confidence that we can do whatever we need to do.

Tim DeChristopher

Categorized in : Strong Pain Sadness

If we want to change that status quo, we might have to work outside of those rules because the legal pathways available to us have been structured precisely to make sure we don’t make any substantial change.

Tim DeChristopher

pathways work-out want

This is not going away. At this point of unimaginable threats on the horizon, this is what hope looks like. In these times of a morally bankrupt government that has sold out its principles, this is what patriotism looks like. With countless lives on the line, this is what love looks like, and it will only grow.

Tim DeChristopher

going-away government principles

What one person can do is to plant the seeds of love and outrage in the hearts of a movement. And if those hearts are fertile ground, those seeds of love and outrage will grow into a revolution.

Tim DeChristopher

revolution movement heart

Civil disobedience is an act of love.

Tim DeChristopher

civil-disobedience disobedience acts-of-love

Our security doesn't come from turning away from the hard stuff; it comes from the knowledge that we can handle it.

Tim DeChristopher

hard handle stuff

Respond to stressful times by turning towards each other, rather than away from each other.

Tim DeChristopher

stressful-times away-from-each-other stressful

Until our leaders take seriously their responsibility to pass on a healthy and just world to the next generation, I will continue this fight.

Tim DeChristopher

fighting leader responsibility

Dealing with our negative emotions is a crucial preparatory step to taking effective action. You have to grapple with the hard stuff, with the hard realities of the world. This builds your confidence that you can handle those intense situations when they arise.

Tim DeChristopher

reality negative world

We need actions that are really coming from people's souls.

Tim DeChristopher

soul people needs

The reality is not that I lack respect for the law; it's that I have greater respect for justice.

Tim DeChristopher

law justice reality

Alienation is perhaps the most effective tool of control in America, and every reminder of our real connectedness weakens that tool.

Tim DeChristopher

tools real america

We need to reject not only outdated fossil-fuel technology, but also an outdated economic system and an outdated corporatist political system. The progressive view is that we are smart enough and ethical enough to not have to be subservient to corporations. We can create our own resilient, localized communities.

Tim DeChristopher

smart technology views

It wasn't until I started reading the history of religion that I understood that the definition of Christianity has shifted in many different directions over time, and the mainstream view today certainly doesn't have any exclusive ownership of what being a Christian means. Realizing that freed me to use the terminology without needing to be tied down to it.

Tim DeChristopher

reading christian mean

I don't read the Bible as the literal word of God; I don't view Jesus as a God. I've rejected both those statements. I view Jesus as a model for how we should live, and by that definition I do consider myself a Christian.

Tim DeChristopher

christian views jesus

I don't think a worship of nature is necessary to mount a really strong defense of the environment.

Tim DeChristopher

defense strong thinking

Being forcefully rattled out of our consumer mentality - our addiction to comfort and convenience can create an opportunity for us [people] to reconnect with what we really value and with the qualities of life that really can sustain us - which include reconnecting with our roles as citizens, community members, and human beings.

Tim DeChristopher

addiction opportunity people

My values are primarily motivated by love for other people. I value the non-human world in large part because it's so vital to human beings. Even my appreciation for wilderness grows out of an understanding of how important wilderness can be for people.

Tim DeChristopher

understanding appreciation people

Part of the reason I embrace nonviolence is that it's the most effective thing we can do. It's a more advanced tactic than violence. If people who engage in violence want to escalate their tactics, they would escalate to nonviolence.

Tim DeChristopher

tactics want people

It's really hard to change the world when your first priority is making sure that the little world around yourself doesn't change.

Tim DeChristopher

priorities littles world

Religious communities have historically been designed to counteract the forces of alienation. That's why so many successful social movements have relied upon the strength of spiritual communities and a large base of their organizing has been through them.

Tim DeChristopher

successful religious spiritual