Quote Originally Posted by Abu Suleyman View Post
I think that this guy has the right understanding of motivation to change stemming from hope. The hopeless don't change, since there is no reason to. I would address the rest of the statement in the following way.

1. Is that enough? I don't think it is in the Middle East. In fact anywhere there is a small war, it is because traditional leadership, and by extension hope, has broken down. If the "tribal system" everyone claims works, doesn't completely, otherwise we could at least negotiate with someone.

2. If it were enough, would your life be the one that gets offered up in sacrifice? It is really easy to prescribe a drug that doesn't result in your death, and just as importantly the demise of your marriage, with the resulting weekend visits to your kids, ...

3. Finally, even if you did decide that your life was the one worth it, do you really have to abandon your bullet proof vest and gun? It isn't as though they are the anti-hope. (The treating people like criminals could go by the wayside, though. We have enough trouble with that even within our own organizations.)
I agree with you that it is one thing to tell and another to do yet when you think about it ; throughout history have not some of the most notable actions been the result of one's beliefs becoming one's actions.

It is very likely that one can believe without acting, but unlikely that one will act without believing. Such is the way of faith.