Somewhere along the line, within the past several years, our society has become the most divisive I’ve ever seen it.
It is far more than mere disagreements (about politics, religion, race, police, socioeconomics, all of the things that make up our society). We all learned as kids – I hope – how to disagree with someone but still remain friends, and be able to see beyond differing opinions and still cooperate. We’ve either forgotten those lessons, or been pushed by controlling forces into opposing camps, or both.
There seems to be a sense of “I’m right, so you’re wrong; therefore, you’re the enemy, and you deserve any harm that comes to you.”
What’s different today is the amount of undisguised hatred that is floating around out there. The kind of hatred we usually only see from extremist groups like the Taliban or the Klan. We see and hear about evidence of this hatred every day: increased shootings and stabbings often over trivial things, smashing a woman’s face because she wasn’t speaking English, crashing a stolen car into a house because an interracial couple lived there, increased road rage incidents including killing a Little League coach and injuring his son, knock-down fist fights in grocery stores, and more.
What’s worse, in my view, is that so much hatred is being spewed and encouraged by -people who do so in the name of God and/or Christianity, or so it seems. And yet the Bible itself tells us that hatred is definitively un-Godly.
Paraphrasing several verses: If you say you love God but hate your brother, you’re a liar. If you hate your brother, you are in darkness not in the light, no matter what you say. Don’t hate your brother in your heart, but reason frankly with your neighbor or you will sin.
“The anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” And yet so many have become self-righteous in their anger and hatred of others, and they feel totally justified in it. Self-righteousness is the opposite of the righteousness of God.
Regardless of the source of this toxic river of hate, it is up to each and every one of us to stop it.
How? Sometimes it means walking away from a fight. Sometimes a kind word can be like salve. At times it’s best to ignore the offensive behavior, and let them face their own judgment (this may be news to some, but it’s not our job to judge, convict, or punish others).
Being so vocal and immovable in your views that people hate you is not a badge of honor. Neither is judging everyone else to be in the wrong and therefore worthy of hate and violence.
We are called to love one another, whether we agree with them – or they with us. Period. There are no exclusions for political party, church affiliation, skin color, bank balance, national origin, or pedigree. We are all children of God – or citizens of Earth, if you prefer.
We live in a civil society and, as such, we all abide by an unwritten code of behavior: that we watch out for one another, respect each other’s right to their own views, and respect each other’s right to a peaceful life and pursuit of happiness.
We’re clearly doing things wrong. We are quick to judge, and to divide people into “us” or “them” – over so many topics, some of which are so trivial in the overall scheme of things. If you’re one of “us,” then you’re okay. But we hate “them” … all of them.
Sadly, there are those who benefit from a divided society. But we don’t have to play their game. We can stop the hate. Time after time after time, if needed.
We don’t have to agree on everything in order to be kind. We can disagree, and be kind anyway. We can argue, and be kind anyway. We can take breaks from each other when needed, and be kind anyway. At times, we may need to disconnect from those who just can’t stop hateful words and behaviors, and really that’s a kindness to ourselves.
There is no room for both hatred and love, anger and joy. Hate and anger will eat you up from the inside. If only for your own health, choose kindness.
“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.” Ephesians 4:31.
“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.