Mission statements are descriptions of how we work towards achieving the Vision.
Our Mission is to:
- Keep “only-love mind” individually so that it manifests corporately
- Engage our community, one person at a time, with helping hands and open hearts
- Transcend real or imagined barriers of age, religion, race, gender, and economic status, to help create true community
- Resist the urge to interact only with others similar to ourselves
- Empower others to align with our Vision
Non-Activism
In today’s contentious, angry world it seems everyone is an activist. Boycotts, protests, pickets, demonstrations, and us-against-them campaigns are rampant. Hardly a day goes by in which someone doesn’t call for a boycott.
One of the biggest problems with such thinking is that it’s based on the Rules of Engagement common to war; that is, if enough people on one side can bully and badger and shame enough people on the other side, the larger, more belligerent side will “win.”
But does anyone truly win these cultural wars?
If the goal is to change someone’s heart, we don’t believe war is the answer.
That’s why we’re non-activists.
Don’t mistake what we’re saying. We’re not passivists, per se. We don’t advocate doing nothing in the face of perceived wrongs. But our approach is radically different: love.
By that, we mean instead of amassing a bunch of angry people to protest, why not walk across the street and ask, “How may I help you?” Or, how about, “May I take you to dinner to talk?” Or, “I see you need your lawn mowed. May my friends do that for you?” Or, “My family is making a huge dinner Friday night. Would you and your family like to join us?”
That “family” may be gay. Or straight. Or black. Or white. Or Hispanic.
The goal is to get to know whatever you perceive as the “opposition,” the “other” in the equation, the “them” in the us-against-them scenario. It is our opinion (and we may be wrong, it’s just our opinion) that ignorance and fear are the foundations of most protests, especially regarding race and gender. We fear others not like us. So we seek to change their behavior and/or attitudes.
Instead, we believe that whomever you perceive to be on the other side of the issue is the person (or persons) you ought to take a step toward – not back away from and threaten with a demonstration or boycott.
In short, what we propose is radical. And difficult. And risky. It’s far from doing nothing. On the contrary, it’s risking all…right down to our lives.
But what’s the alternative? If everyone is an angry activist, won’t that make society angry? And violent? And dangerous? We believe it will.
So why not try love?
Put down the picket signs. Cease protesting. Stop boycotting. Put a halt to demonstrations. Instead, walk across the perceived barrier and ask, “How may I help you?”
That’s what The Only Love Project is all about.