I used to think, actually really
believe, that people were inherently kind hearted and good and sweet.
I actually, really believed this. I never thought people would be
intentionally mean or cruel to others. And that if they were, it was
because they didn't realize they were being mean. I was a Pollyanna
at heart and genuinely loved people with all my heart no matter what.
I thought only the best of them. Naïve and hopeful in the good of
humanity.
And then I met a monumental knave who
hated me simply because he saw me read my Bible. He lived in a
world that I did not support, but I still, as always, tried everything within my power to show
genuine love to him. This wasn't my first rodeo with someone whom I
happen to not agree in life with. It just didn't seem that big a deal
to me. We're all different, right? As much as I tried to love him,
care for him, and ask about his life to show my interest in him as a
person, it made no difference. He made it his mission to make my
life a living hell. And he practically accomplished his goal. I had
never experienced anyone like this before...or atleast someone who
wasn't eventually won with lovingkindness and sincerity. I had so
often been able to make an enemy a friend. He caused such drama: the
withholding of paychecks owed to me, he lied to my employer after
using me to advocate for his concerns, he created dissension among
those who worked alongside me, he caused me being fired from a job
that I worked very hard at and gave my all to. As much as I fought
his efforts, month after month, to break down my positive attitude,
eventually he even succeeded at influencing me toward cynicism and
negativity.
People (even unbelievers) suggested
that his treatment of me was for one simple reason: because I am a
Christian. I never believed this to be true because it seemed so
lame to hate someone for what they believe.
But now, after watching Christian after
Christian dragged into court for standing by their ideals, I realize
that they were right. And Jesus was right. “They will hate you on
account of Me.”
For many years I wondered what positive
or useful purpose this experience could possibly have in my life.
And finally, in the last year, as I have battled, on the front lines
at times, for public policy and against the evil that is advocated in
this country, I realized that what that horrid experience taught me
was a unique insight into the cruelty and great lengths people will
go to just because your ideals are different from theirs...and just
because you are different from them. And because "men love darkness
rather than the light because their deeds are evil." And, boy, will
they bite and kick and seethe and be unconscionably nasty so they can
not only have their way but force you to submit to their demands, as
well. It's not enough for us all to do as we please (save the
harming of person and property), we must knock down and destroy not
just those in opposition to us, but even those who are silent or
neutral.
The battle is real folks. And whatever
the motivation is for these people, whether spiritual or whatever, we
can not pussyfoot around reality and we can not candy coat people's
real intentions and we can not excuse evil, cruelty, or ugliness for
anything other than what it is. Or it will overtake us. And it is
overtaking us because we fail to do anything about it. “To not
speak is to speak. To not act is to act.” As my son says, we can
sit on the fence with God on one side and the devil in the other, but
the devil owns the fence. Not to choose IS to choose.
Wake up. The battle is raging and most
of us are sleeping right through it. When we awake, we'll wonder how
this all happened. The responsibility will rest in our hands.
quotes by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Jesus
