How Quickly We Hate

I am somewhat disturbed by how quickly people move from disappointment, to hate, then on to wishing bad things on others.  I have seen several examples this week, and I just have to say something.  I am going to start with the smallest, and least important incident.

We have a neighborhood social media site where people can post things including reviews of local businesses.  Today a neighbor posted that she was disappointed in the service and quality of food at a local mom and pop Asian Fusion place.  Fine, good, I was disappointed the last time I went, too.  It happens.  If it is a one time fluke, fine.  If it happens too much, I may decide not to go there anymore.  The responses to her post got more and more hateful.  First people said they hated it.  Then, they started using nasty names.  Then, two different people said "I hope they go out of business soon."  How did we get from I am disappointed in the service to I hate them and hope something bad happens?  Perhaps it is just the fallen nature of humanity.

But what really disturbs me is that they may really mean it.  This is literally a mom and pop place.  The husband works in the kitchen ALONE while the wife waits tables.  They try to hire local high school students for their extra help, which not many businesses will do now a days.  They even opened their dining room to the East Broad Outreach Center so they could have their worship there for several months.  Are these "evil" people who deserve to be driven out of business?  OK, so if their food isn't good, maybe they need to think about another job opportunity, but do they deserve to be hated?

Now I will move on to two much more emotionally charged subjects, the bombing of the Boston Marathon and the explosion in West, Texas.  My friend Brendon, who is from Boston, asked if it was OK to be angry at a woman who made a tasteless joke about the bombing when he mentioned where he was from.  I told him "yes" it is OK to have righteous anger, but that doesn't give us the right to act on it.  Anger, even righteous anger often turns into hate.  That is why God tells us to leave vengeance to the Lord.

It was completely right and justified to be angry about what happened in Boston.  It was clearly a crime of prejudice and hate!  But when the FBI released pictures of the suspects the whole nation seemed to seethe with hate for these two people.  Like I said righteous anger is fine.  Be angry at what these people did.  Hope that they get justice!  But if you let it turn to hate it often turns horribly wrong...  Early on some well meaning citizen said, gee that looks like someone I go to school with, and for a few hours the Internet reported that the suspect was an innocent college student who wasn't even there.  The FBI soon corrected it and the web site apologized, but it was too late.  They found the innocent student dead, floating in a river near his apartment.  We don't know exactly what happened, but I think it is safe to say that he was a victim of the nation's hate.

It was similar to an incident the week after 9/11.  A Muslim woman went to shop at a Walmart two blocks from the church where I worked.  Because she was wearing traditional Muslim dress, the other shoppers nearly beat her to death, an innocent victim of hate that got out of control.

The last incident I want to mention is about the Westboro Baptist Church group that takes hate to a whole new level.  They protested both the funerals of those who died in Boston and were threatening to do the same in West.  Their protest?  We hate homosexuals so we are going to protest victims of disasters.  This group is very easy to hate, in my opinion.  Still I remind myself, "hate the sin, not the sinner."  But I was deliriously happy when the sheriff of West declared if even one protester showed up, he would arrest them and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law.  Yes, finally someone willing to stand up to those hate mongers.  And it is the proper authority, so we can be righteous in our anger.

But I worry a bit...  It took a whole 10 minutes for a complaint about a restaurant to turn into hate and wishing them ill.  We are human.  We are sinful.  How far or how long does it take for my (or your) very justified righteous anger to turn into hate.  God loves everyone, that doesn't mean that they will not face judgement for what they do.  But we should not be so quick to hate what God loves.  God would rather that a sinner be redeemed, that the lost be found.  God would love for the Westboro Baptist Church to have a change of heart and start preaching love instead of hate.

So, the next time I have the knee jerk reaction to say I hate someone or something, I am going to try to stop and think about all the pain and suffering hate has caused over the past week.  It is OK to be angry, but hate is a very dangerous and evil thing.

Love and Peace!

A Shepherd for the Darkest Valley

In light of the bombings at the Boston Marathon I think it is appropriate that this coming Sunday is what is known as Shepherd Sunday, where we remember that even through the valley of the shadow of death that God leads us.  Our Good Shepherd stands by us through all the hardships that the world can throw at us.

There is really nothing that we can say in the face of such hatred and evil where innocent lives are taken or destroyed.  But we can find comfort from our Good Shepherd.  So I would like to let the scripture speak for itself this morning starting with Psalm 23 (NRSV)

"1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures;

he leads me beside still waters;

3 he restores my soul.

He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.

4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley,

I fear no evil; for you are with me;

your rod and your staff-- they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me

in the presence of my enemies;

you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,

and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD my whole life long."

Revelation 7 is the New Testament Lesson for Sunday.  It addresses those who suffered and died unjustly:

13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, robed in white, and

where have they come from?” 14 I said to him, “Sir, you are the one that knows.” Then he

said to me, “These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed

their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

15 For this reason they are before the throne of God,

and worship him day and night within his temple,

and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them.

16 They will hunger no more, and thirst no more;

the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat;

17 for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd,

and he will guide them to springs of the water of life,

and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

When a tragedy like this happens, people want to make sense of it.  But you can't always make sense out of the actions of a twisted mind.  We may not be able to do much about the suffering of April 15, but we can still give hope that God will eventually have the final say.

To end, there has been a quote from fellow Presbyterian Minister, Mr. Rogers that has floated around the Internet for some time.  It resurfaced a lot yesterday.  When tragedy strikes and terrible things happen, look for the helpers.  All our thanks to those who provided aid and comfort during yesterday's tragedy!

Love and Peace.