About
About the Blog
Return Good for Evil refers to the radical commands of Christ about self-sacrifice and love for enemies. This blog comments on current events from the perspective of Christian nonviolence.
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About the Author
Find me on Facebook and Twitter.
I am a five-year veteran of Capitol Hill and a trained “Creating a Culture of Peace” facilitator. My writing has been featured on The Huffington Post, BraveNewFilms and AlterNet. I have written one complete manuscript which is under consideration for publication, and I hope to eventually transition to writing professionally full-time.
I recently completed the Afghanistan blog fellowship for Brave New Foundation / The Seminal.
In Washington, D.C., I served as communications director for U.S. Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.). Prior to working in Smith’s office, I worked in communications for U.S. Rep. Charlie Stenholm (D-Texas), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and the national office of the Children’s Defense Fund.
I left D.C. once it became clear that Democrats opposed the President’s strategic decisions while making war rather than challenging the militarization of the national economy and the overall use of war to resolve international conflicts. As a devout Christian (Episcopalian), I believe the teachings of Jesus bar the use of violence in conflict. An active member of the peace movement, I organized vigils and participated in civil disobedience actions to call for the end of the Iraq war. I blog on current events from a Christian nonviolence perspective at http://returngood.com.
My wife, Laurie, and I live in Austin, Texas, with our two cats, Honey and Fuzz.
[...] I finally put up a bio about myself on the About page. Published [...]
Dear Derrick,
Thanks for your voice on the kind of Love which is deemed impossible by almost all and practiced by none.
I write from Afghanistan, where I’m journeying with a bunch of Afghan youth and college students to ask questions about ‘turning the other cheek’, peace and humanity.
You may wish to read one of our posts, entitled US raid ‘killed 140 Afghans’, each costing US$2000 : Is US$2000 the value of one Afghan life or one Afghan death??
Many thanks and much peace!!
Young Hakim
On behalf of Our Journey to Smile
Hakim: Thank you for your fantastic note.
I will follow your progress and keep you and your group in my thoughts. Tell me more about “Our Journey to Smile”!
I support American force, to kill all pashtuns, becoz all pashtunz are terrorist. pashtuns are a shame for islam. shame on you, shame on you
Thanks.
A world of thanks!….in Dari, یک جهان تشکر! ( yak jahan tashakur! )
Need to walk to a peace activity at Bamiyan University now, so will write again over the weekend.
Spring warmth,
Hakim
Dear Derrick and Laurie,
Our Journey to Smile is a journey to encourage humane relationships based on love.
I share an impending sense of external and internal failure with some Afghan youth; few internationals will believe that Afghans desire peace AND vice versa because what we humans do often contradict what we wish for.
Ghandi observed that there weren’t any Christians who practiced what Christ preached. Martin Luther King and Leo Tolstoy also voiced against the ‘conventional’ discrepancies of their time. They could have said the same thing about ANY OTHER faith.
Is this a problem with God, with systems or with our self-deceptive immaturity?
How do we ‘say’ to a grieving Afghan, Iraqi or American mother that her child was killed by some God-believing person who sincerely hoped to love but who felt NO incongruence in being violent, even killing?
We can only cling onto a little hope that the inner voice in every human being, deeply uncomfortable with violence and war, can grow into a credible public opinion and practice.
Thus we wish to seed this growth of humanity’s love, in a country least expected to honor peace. A spark in the dark.
We hope to gather international volunteers and Afghan youth on International Peace Day 21st September 2009 at the World Heritage Bamiyan Buddhas, to exemplify that people of all races and faiths can relate with one another humanely, that love is not a fable.
This is Our Journey to Smile.
I wish I could discuss the smile with you more; I recommend Kahlil Gibran’s poetic descriptions of the smile in “ A tear and a smile’ and many of his other writings.
Thanks once again and please keep in touch!
Peace!
Hakim/Young
On behalf of Our Journey to Smile
You are a terrorist Pashtun. its shame to be pashtun. all pashtuns are talib. and all talib are terrorist,
Hello Derrick,
I just sent you a hilariously abbreviated message on twitter, but I thought I’d send you a fuller message.
My name is Allison – I’m working at the Washington Peace Center on our winter issue of the Peace Letter. This issue is on Afghanistan, and I had the opportunity to view Rethink Afghanistan at a screening in DC. I’ve also been following your blog.
Would you be interested in compiling some information to be included in the Peace Letter? In particular, I’d like to include an ‘Afghanistan Occupation myths’ section that debunks commonly held misconceptions. You’ve already confronted these myths either directly or indirectly for your blog, so this probably wouldn’t take much of your time. Distribution for the Peace Letter is 4,000, largely in the DC area.
Let me know if this is something you might be interested in.
I look forward to hearing from you!
Kind regards,
Allison
(443)562-5856
Hi Allison!
I’d love to talk. When works for you?
DC
Hey Derrick,
I’m available today until 6 or anytime 9-6 tomorrow (EST). What works for you? You can e-mail me at allisonb@washingtonpeacecenter.org.
Allison
Hey Derrick,
What’s your e-mail?
Thanks,
Allison