To wage a vicious war, whether psychological or actual, against that which one detests, sees as problematic or wants to see undone is an age-old error. The age-old solution: To explore, manifest and explain coolly the merits and fruits of a very different approach to a given problem, or to opposing values.

 Plato's allegory of the cave remains profoundly relevant today. The recalcitrant must be gently coaxed and lured into the light, they must move of their own accord and in line with their own interests and thoughts; violently thrown or dragged they will only stiffen further, become more violently opposed to change. To hastily drag a life-long cave dweller out into the sun will only convince him that the sun—and by extension you—are his enemy. It will burn his eyes, blind him and entrench his resistance to leaving the cave. You must stand out in the sun enjoying its warming rays and allow him to gaze upon you from the safety of his cave. You may call out to him and reassure him that, once one becomes accustomed to it, the surface world has a great deal more to explore and enjoy than the subterranean. Yet he must move out of the cave under his own power, at his own pace. Browbeating and shaming are ill-advised, are almost always counter-productive.

 So many brilliant minds have missed this simple pattern. Ideas and theory are powerful and useful in their own right, but never forget that a flagrant, flesh-and-blood contradiction of a cherished belief will do far more to dispel bigotry and conceit than even the most lucid presentations or arguments. The living, manifest reality always outshines and upstages the merely intellectual. We must embody that which we want to see flourish in the world, what we want to see awakened in others. To only speak or write of it is woefully insufficient.

 There is a time and a place for combat and fighting for that which you love, but it is not when trying to help decent people see the wisdom in a different kind of life and world-view. If we are gentle and understanding with others, while remaining resolute and uncompromising in our own virtue, we will enligthen and uplift many more people than if we are always brandishing a sword and looking for a fight.