It was many years ago when I heard this bit of wisdom. It was in an unlikely place that I heard it. I was sitting in a political science course when the professor said “when a movement turns violent it loses its power.”

I was offended by this because at that time I was interested in animal rights and a few years later actually went on a march in DC to support this cause. I don’t know that I would have ever gotten violent in that effort but I did protest and researched the science of bio-medical testing on animals.

Just this past year I heard another quote from a CD I was listening to on how to be successful in a MLM company. That speaker said that “the person who has the most influence is that person who serves the most people.”

I have reflected on these two quotes in relation to the uprising in Paris over the slaughter of those who were choosing to exert their freedom of speech. The cartoonists did not use violence, they merely mocked a figure which some people worship. The extremists, on the other hand, used violence.

I find it amazing that a publication which initially only put out 60,000 copies is now running 300,000 copies. The violence which was meant to intimidate them instead incited the whole world to fight back.

It seems as if some Muslims have a difficult time being tolerant of other people’s viewpoints yet we are supposed to tolerate theirs.

I think if they would take both of these quotes and learn from them they would see that if they served others, instead of killing them, they would have a lot more power and influence.

Interesting that my Christian religion calls us all to be servants because that is what Christ was. No wonder it seems to be the most influential and powerful belief to claim.