Posted on April 3, 2016

I just discovered WeedOutHate.org. It was created by a Jewish man, Marc Daniels, whose grandfather had invented a root feeder, an irrigation tool that allows people to nourish the deepest roots of trees and shrubs. Daniels himself worked for decades in the green industry and studied gardening trends and ecological affects of gardening. He's taken what he knows about gardening and transformed it into an effort to make modern society more peaceful and loving.

And he calls it Weed Out Hate.

Daniels's website talks about inequality, prejudice, bigotry, and hatred as weeds that can be discovered and pulled up . He talks about kindergarten-age kids as the “social architects of tomorrow,” and he tries to reach them with his message about weeding out hate for all generations.

And of course he talks about sowing seeds, too – seeds of freedom and of social justice, of peace and of greatness.

One great idea for celebrating this day is to pass out seeds
with a positive message about peace and tolerance.

Daniels looks to people like Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Oskar Schindler for inspiration. As a matter of fact, today's celebration is on April 3 because it is the anniversary of Martin Luther King's “Mountaintop” speech. On this date in 1968, King gave a famous speech that ended with these stirring words:

Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!”

(Aside from the fact that King's speech was amazing, people have thought of it as prophetic; he was assassinated the very next day.)

Other days that the Weed Out Hate organization honors include Dr. King's birthday in January and Earth Day, which is later in April. But of course EVERY day is a good day to weed out hate and sow seeds of peace!

We've never needed the message to weed out hate more than this year, with politics bringing up so many hateful messages that have been blasted all over our televisions and social media. Remember to look for the candidates who don't tolerate intolerance, who encourage the best in us, who don't pander to the worst in us!