Today's MOZEN: Love in the Face of Hate

F LoBuono

Don't you get it?

It's EASY to HATE.

Perhaps, this song from the popular '70's band, 3 Dog Night, says it best:

How can people be so heartless
How can people be so cruel
Easy to be proud, easy to say no
Easy to be gone, easy to say no
Come on, easy to get read
Easy to say no
But too easy to be cold
Easy to say no
But too easy to say no

Our Country is awash in violence. We suffer more gun related deaths* than any other country in the industrialized world. It's as shocking as it is shameful. 17 innocents recently taken in Florida by mass murder is just the most recent example.

And, the debate rages as to WHY?

It's a gun issue.

It's a mental health issue.

It's a freedom issue.

ALL of them are worthy of discussion. But, ultimately, they are not the MAIN issue. And, that is HATE.

Simple, unabated, seething, viral HATE.

Despite our many advances in civil and human rights, we still hate wantonly - those who are different or come from strange places, speak weird languages, engage in behaviors beyond our norms, are of a different color or culture, etc. There seems to be an unlimited number of reasons to hate another human being.

And, this in turn creates a never ending cycle of death and destruction.

Let's take the young man who recently perpetrated the heinous crime in Florida of which we speak.

It's EASY to HATE him, to call him a monster and the devil incarnate. There certainly is no defense for his unspeakable crime. But, we must resist the urge to hate him. That's simply too easy and, in the end, gets us nowhere.

Rather, I ask from everyone to attempt the inconceivable - show compassion by understanding that this is still a human being - one that is seriously ill and, so, has lost his ability to show good judgment. Perhaps, he was born with the mental deficiencies that prevented him from feeling compassion. He allowed his anger and his HATE to overwhelm him to the point that the only way he could feel better about himself was to create great pain in others. But, if we allow ourselves to fall into the same patterns, to hate him the way he hated the world, are we truly any better?

Now, I don't call myself a Christian. In fact, I do not subscribe to ANY religion. However, I do follow the teaching of the Christ and others who preach tolerance, understanding, and compassion for ALL. They ask us not to judge but, rather, to understand. In fact, they take it one step further - they implore us to LOVE our enemies. THIS is the only way to break the endless cycle of violence. If we can find some way to do this - to love the most abhorrent among us - we will truly become divine.

This, for obvious reasons, if incredibly difficult to achieve (if not downright impossible). But, I do believe that if we love in the face of hate, we will win - every time.

* https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/07/world/americas/mass-shootings-us-international.html