Abstract Thursday : : Reflections

Most of the time when I try to take a picture inside the house, I am thwarted by the amount of light reflecting from all the windows and doors. I hasten to add that despite the photography challenges, I continue to love living in such a light filled house. Today, since the challenge was 'reflections' I decided to take advantage of the light and all the glass.

This picture was shot from outside the back windows, through the living room, the kitchen window and the front door. I like the reflections of our hilly garden in the back  reflected over the view of the mountains through the kitchen window....

Spurred on by Kendallishere's thoughtful journal today, I have been doing my own reflecting on what our responsibility should be when it comes to combating the kind of ugly hate speech making a resurgence in our country right now. It revolves around the question of whether it does any good to stand up to hateful people who threaten violence, 

Universities are grappling with this question as a question of  free speech even when what is being said is abhorrent to many.  My Alma Mater is hosting a "free speech week" next month, which will include as speakers, Ann Coulter, Milo Yiannopoulos, and Steve Bannon, conservative authors and provocateurs. I was a student at Cal during the famous free speech movement and what I have begun to realize is that there will always be controversial issues although they change over the years, and  I still believe  in the first amendment right of free speech, but even the first amendment guarantees the right to assemble peaceably.

The right to free  speech includes the right to say things which I find distasteful and abhorrent, but it doesn't include the right to incite violence. For someone who has always believed in non-violence how to respond becomes a very fine line, especially in these days of increased police brutality.

Although I say it with reservations, I have to agree with Kendall. I wouldn't punch a Nazi in the face, but I'm grateful for those who would in order to protect the vulnerable from white supremacists and those bent on violence.