Does Love Really Win?

‘Love Wins’

I’ve heard that phrase a lot over the last couple of days. It’s a message that gives us hope in the midst of tragedies like we saw in Orlando this weekend. The mantra that we cry in the face of terror, extremism and hate crimes. It gives us hope that eventually good will prevail over evil, love will prevail over hate. It’s a phrase that caused thousands of people all around the world to hold vigils on Monday night, remembering the lives that were lost under such terrible circumstances. Last year at London Pride I marched in the parade holding a sign with that message, alongside hundreds of others declaring this message across the world. But last night, after a day of hearing the stories of innocent people who died after that horrific homophobic attack, and seeing people blaming and scapegoating the Islamic community for the acts of a small minority; I asked myself, does love really win?

Maybe it’s my inner nihilist coming out, but the more I watch the news these days, the less hope I have that love will ultimately win. I see the likes of UKIP and Donald Trump spouting racist comments about migrants and Islam. Mass shootings happening, what feels like every other day, in the USA, homophobia ruining the lives of my LGBTQ+ friends, and countless politicians acting in their own selfish interests at the expense of the people they were elected to serve. Millions of people living in poverty, surviving on less than £1.30 a day. War, terrorism, human trafficking don’t seem to be going away, I could go on. It seems to be getting worse by the day. Love does not seem to be winning.

It’s very easy to come to the conclusion that maybe love does not win. Maybe there isn’t some kind of divine cosmic force weaving things together to bring good out of evil. I mean, if there is a God out there who has triumphed over death and hate, then why does he not to intervene in the face of such utter evil? Where was this God during the Holocaust? Or Orlando? Maybe we just tell ourselves ‘love wins’ because it makes things feel a bit easier, giving us hope in the face of the evil in this world that one day, everything will be put right. But what if there is no hope? What if it’s not guaranteed that love will ultimately win? 

I don’t know whether, ultimately, love will have the final victory in the grand scheme of things. That’s beyond my knowledge and control. But that doesn’t mean that I can’t let love win in my own life. I choose to let my actions spread love, rather than hate. I choose to stand up for the persecuted, the marginalised, the downtrodden of society. I choose to fight against racism, sexism, and homophobia in the world. Supporting equality and freedom for every individual to be themselves and have the opportunities I have in life.

Now, when I say ‘love wins’, I’m not going to say it as some kind of empty hope for the future. I won’t say that I think regardless of the way in which you or I treat the people around us, that love will win. When I say ‘love wins’, I’m making a promise. A promise to play my part, to do my bit, to try to make a difference in this world. I’m choosing to let love win in my life.

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