I’ve had several goes at this… let’s
try this again, this time in the context of a quote by Miriam Veiszadah: “If
you play a role in giving a platform to hate, you are complicit.”
Miriam is quoted by lefties — right,
left and centre. By the way, I’m more left than right in many of my views. But
we have a bigger problem, if we’re indeed Christian?
We’re going headlong into a time of
violence by attitude — “out of the abundance of the heart,” which was being
referred to as a bad thing, Jesus said, “the mouth speaks.”[1]
If what we see is mockery, scorn and derision,
we know that the heart beneath it is cold and hard.
we know that the heart beneath it is cold and hard.
God cares for all creation, for
every single human being, and must detest it when both sides sling their vitriol
at each other, as if words weren’t violent. They are! You cannot say that, “sticks
and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” If that were so
there would be a lot less trauma in the world, for there are far more varieties
of abuse than those that do physical harm alone. And all abuse is violent.
Anyone who is venturing into
mockery and selective reporting and politicking, among other forms of influence,
aimed at wresting power for one side of the argument to the detriment of another
is doing violence, because they’re not loving their neighbour.
Doesn’t God have an awesome sense
of humour in creating neighbours who we find it easy to despise? The point is,
love is not easy. It isn’t just one view. If we romanticise love then we have
missed the point, even as we pretend to have worked God out. God is
inscrutable.
You cannot love your neighbour and
poke fun at them at their expense at the same time.
Do I have a solution? No, not
really. But I do want to call self-righteousness from loud and large voices,
though; people who won’t necessarily read this. Yes, self-righteousness from
both/all sides when they’re right in their own eye amid such complex ethical
problems.
Complex problems are never solved
by one voice. Enigmatic dilemmas can only be resolved when a range of voices come
together. Can you imagine that happening in our highly fractured, instant
media, viral world? And while I’m there, perhaps just reflect a little before
you share your left- or right-wing propaganda — you’ve been spun, and you’re
spinning others in your sharing.
We need a broader discussion without
throwing verbal grenades at each other. But that is only possible when we
recognise the hurt and the hate in our own hearts. Yes, you and me. It’s there.
We must stop pandering to our own
biases and recognise we don’t have the market cornered on wisdom.
I just find it so ironic that many
people who decry hate in the world do so in hateful ways.
And yet, I say it again: I do not
know how to solve this and I’m not actually that smart in this arena. Just wanted
to make my point.
And finally, to those who I rile up
or upset with this article, all I hope for is that it might cause you to just
be still for a moment and reflect. In 560 words I cannot possibly have covered
it all.
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