Had a SS lesson today about how we are involved in a great spiritual battle between the forces of evil and the forces of good. (I don’t particularly like the SBC literature, but it is what it is.) My big concern about this is that given the current political climate, a lot of people substitute their own political party for “good” and the other party for “evil.” I am, of course, no different in this regard. But my point today is not to decide which side is which, but to mourn the absence of civility and discourse in all areas of life.

I guess we’ll never return to the days when politicians could work together with the folks across the aisle to get things done for the good of the country. But the real problem is that this separation and hatefulness mirror the divisions across society. We separate people into “us” and “them,” although we use much stronger language. Once you apply a label, the more hateful and dehumanizing the better, it is easy to think of your opponents as your enemies deserving of death.

You see it certainly in politics. If you can’t twist and misrepresent something said by the other candidate, you aren’t doing your job. And you don’t even need to feel guilty about an intentional lie, or about passing along without checking it something that probably isn’t strickly true. After all, you are working toward the greater good, right?

We saw so many examples of this during the Black Lives Matter protests. The root of a lot of the problem is that too many people somehow lump all non-white men (and even boys) into the “other,” dangerous criminals or at least potential criminals from whom the rest of us need to be protected. It isn’t far from believing that to excusing a policeman who uses unnecessary force or a teenager who takes a rifle to a protest to “protect himself." I’m not saying this is everyone, or even necessarily a majority, but enough either believe it — or don’t speak up to when they see it — to be a problem. 

In the interest of brevity, I will save the discussion of white privilege and institutional racism for another day.

I heard a sermon today where the pastor challenged his listeners to imagine how things would change if we treated those with whom we disagree with love instead of hate. He told the true story of civil rights activist Ann Atwater and C.P. Ellis, a Durham KKK leader who was transformed by their relationship. Are there people in Durham today who could be changed if we acted out of Christian love instead of a need to earn points for our side? Absolutely. How can we make it happen?

GRAPHICS: PRESENTERMEDIA