LET OUR EXTREME BE TO LOVE

This Heart Does Not Hate

Yesterday, in Pakistan 132 school children and 9 staff members were slaughtered by Taliban gunman.  The crime is so heinous that Taliban militants in Afghanistan have decried the murders as un-Islamic. The problem is that these same militants who harbor similar hatreds, who believe that such animosity is a provision of their Islamic faith, have the blood of the innocents on their hands.  It makes little difference that most Islamic extremists would refrain from killing children-- when vitriol is a part or proof of religious orthodoxy or dedication, there will always be the danger of these kinds of unconscionable acts.  The truth is that these same militants would never make such a claim that murder was "un-Islamic" if the innocents were adults.  Age would somehow turn victims into culprits deserving of slaughter.  There is simply no way in which hatred may be contained even if the boundaries are doctrinal  Hatred by nature recognizes no limits. 

This is exactly what is wrong with some of the evangelical and fundamentalist Christians in the United States.  While they are not angry enough to begin the slaughter of individuals whom they have indelibly linked with behavior they call sin, the fervency of condemnation is the flint that ignites the same kind of violence.  I remember growing up in a church that reminded me to love the sinner but to hate the sin, that in so doing I was modeling my actions on Christ's.  I have since found this to be an impossible task-- when one hates, there are no limits.  Yes, Jesus could do it, but we cannot.  Our hatred of the sin will never allow us not to hate the sinner.  So when left with a choice of either hating or loving, there need be no dilemma-- just love.  

What happens when you don't choose "love"? You find ridiculous and repulsive arguments such as the latest in which certain evangelicals are making the claim that sometimes torture is necessary.  I must have missed that portion of the Gospels in which Christ commanded his disciples, "Love your enemies, unless you must torture them."  

The fact is that the seeds of hatred-provoked violence may often be found in a perfectly understandable anger.  For example, in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, many Americans were angry.  Who would blame us?  Innocents were slaughtered.  But that justifiable anger soon became rationalized, legitimized, and justified violence in the form of torture.  

From a moral standpoint, it is rare that the means have no impact on the ends.  It is the safer moral code to worry about the means all along the way so that in the end we might be found as noble as humanly possible. Remember, too, that there was a time when some good Christian Americans believed that helping a freed slave was an unrighteous act.  

Even if God has appeared to you and told you, for example, that homosexuality is immoral, let him worry about the judging part.  It could very well be that it was not actually God who spoke to you.  Then you find yourself later having to apologize (or justify) having erroneously perpetrated hatred and violence against a group of people.  So you florists and bakers who are refusing to sell your products for use in same sex weddings-- how is your refusal furthering the kingdom of God?  If one has to demonstrate one's faith in overt acts of hatred, then one should seriously reassess the profitability of that creed.  I have a hunch that when the baker is standing before the Lord on judgment day, he is not going to get the GO DIRECTLY TO HELL card for doing business with same sex couples; in fact, his refusal to serve them may actually qualify as a goatish act as defined by Christ himself at Matthew 25:31-46.  

So how about we start during this season to do something different.  Even if we cannot bring ourselves to love each other, how about taking St. Paul's advice at Philippians 4:8

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, 

whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, 

whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, 

whatsoever things are of good report; 

if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, 

think on these things.

Maybe we can fill up so much on the good thoughts, that we won't have room for anything else. 

In the meantime, we need to pray to God on behalf of the families of these dear children killed in Pakistan.  Pray for healing, pray for peace-- on our knees, in our hearts, in the way we treat each other.  

WE THE PEOPLE

Things have come to light recently that should make white people ashamed.  Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams were all unarmed African Americans killed by white police officers.  And these are but the most recent.  The ones the press has publicized.  It is becoming increasingly clear that white law enforcement personnel take it for granted that as long as they can claim that an African American displayed even a semblance or shred of misbehavior, their own violent actions will be justified.  To whom?  Their superiors?  The criminal justice system?  The courts?  Unfortunately the "whom" is the white population of the United States.  We are providing tacit and implicit support for these bad cops by our own failure to act against racism.  If we did not think African Americans are dispensable or expendable, these cops would be far less likely to kill.  They would actually fear reprisals.

Let's stop the excuses and the cheap rationalizations such as:  "Not all white cops are bad" or "If you don't want harassed by the cops, don't break the law."  Of course, there are many good police officers; and of course, one is at a greater disadvantage when engaged in wrongful activity.  The fact is, however, that statements like these consciously or subconsciously are cosmetics we use to cover up racism.  Instead of the reflex to evade, why not try these possibilities.  Instead of running to the defense of good cops, admit that there are some very, very bad individuals who are wearing uniforms and carrying loaded guns.  This may frighten you.  Or instead of laying the blame on the victims, say that people who steal little cigars, people who sell loose cigarettes, people who are cornered in their cars, and children who are playing with toys are being murdered by police.  Unless you are completely devoid of reason, you must conclude that the killings are at the very least unjustified.

And stop saying things like, "Here they go again playing the race card." When you make this statement, you may think that you are expressing your deep desire to treat all people fairly without consideration of any group identifiers: race, social class, religion, etc. And some of you truly believe you are being color blind. What you are really saying is that as a member of the enfranchised race you do not want to consider the possibility that your words, your actions, your beliefs are nothing less than toxic to others.  Without your so-called "race card" you may continue to live as you always have, being molded by and never taking the initiative to mold your culture. Perhaps you grab onto bits from your biased grasp of history to the tune of "Well, look how far we've come." It is noteworthy that only when justifying your own culture do you use the first person plural pronoun. You want everything to be alright without discomfort to you. You claim that you never lynched anyone to prove yourself innocent of racism.   You are simply trying to get through your life doing as little as possible. The fact is that everything you do not do, white America, is an endorsement of racism.  Every time you do nothing you are playing the race card.  You were not slave owners but you are their beneficiaries.  That smug looks that you wear everyday, that unappealing look of entitlement comes to you through white supremacy, at the expense of the countless black men, women and children who were broken, abused, tortured, and killed from the day they were uprooted from their homeland.  Doing nothing doesn't work. Your very existence makes you complicit in the evil 

Let's not insulate ourselves from the harsh realities.  
Racism cannot simply go away.  Whites created it, and whites must be the ones to eradicate it.  

Using the parable of the Good Samaritan, Martin Luther King, Jr.  gave us a great test to determine whether, in fact, we are the Christians many of us claim to be.
When we see a person being treated unjustly or anyone who is suffering, what question do we ask ourselves:


"What will happen to me if I help this person?" or "What will happen to this person if I do not help him?"
The first question is asked by those like the priest and the lawyer who care only about their own comfort.  
The second question is asked by the Good Samaritan who restores the injured man to health.

Let us all ask the second question.  

God hath shown thee, O man, what is good: and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? (Micah 6:8)