On Eradicating Hatred...

There are people in my life who I used to look up. Used to see as inspirational because of what I perceived as their passion for equality, individuality and creativity. Used to consider heroes because of their proclaimed belief in the human spirit and the right of every person to have a creative voice.

I don't anymore.

Look up to them, that is. Because... suddenly... or not so suddenly... I see what they truly are beneath the mask of free spirited love. I see their fear of being wrong. I see how they claim equality, but only for themselves, and not for anyone who may not believe in the causes they feel called to fight for. I see them proclaim hatred for people who say they are wrong. And this proclamation of hatred shows me, that they are not heroes any longer. Just fallen humanity, so lost and scared that they feel they must hurt to be heard.

Election years do this to us, especially. Every four years our colors flash brightly in the glaring lights of warring political factions. The gay rights movement, the racial equality movement, the feminists, the Christians... all claim to want equality and love. And all heap hatred on one another. Burning words that leave scalded, blistered wounds on the psyches and souls of assumed enemies. (Not everyone who prescribes to a movement or belief does this, but as a whole, most groups that start out good, end up wounding out of their own woundedness.)

I hear the word hate volleyed around like a mantra for change. But how can positive change ever come from hatred. Hatred, in its very nature, is destructive. It is anger with no outlet. It is energy, bottled and fermented, 'til it turns to turpentine and acid. Hatred eats away at the ego; it strips from us our humanity, so that we become little more than banal beasts tearing at each other to try to preserve what we believe is rightfully ours.

As a follow of Jesus Christ, I see this all too often in the christian community. Misguided church groups marching with signs that proclaim God's hatred... for gays, or Nazis, or abortionists, or Jews, or whatever the next "Great Evil" is. This assumption of God's hatred is the true evil. The God I serve is so much greater than that. He is an all encompassing love that meets us where we are and lifts us up, and instructs and guides and fosters truth and creativity.

OK... even if you do believe that a gay lifestyle is wrong, or abortion is killing unborn souls... how is a campaign of hatred going to solve anything. It is perpetuating the enemy's agenda. Satan uses "well meaning Christians" to turn more people from God. Instead of marching on Washington, or boycotting Disney... do as Jesus did. Get to know people where they are at, show them the immeasurable love of God, and allow them to make an informed decision for themselves. Respect them. Honor their intelligence to make those difficult decisions. It works. When surrounded by love, love becomes a force that is hard to ignore. Incidentally, Jesus railed much more against the "church" of His day, than He did against the "sinner." Think about it.

That rant was not the point of this blog... It just sort of came out.

What I really want to address is hate in general. And more importantly, Love, in general. If we, as a free nation, continue to chose hate as an internal weapon, we will not need terrorism to destroy us. Al-Qaeda can just watch as we destroy ourselves. And we will. All the anger and injustice and back-biting, back-stabbing, back-breaking has already begun to corrode our foundations. I had a vision, around the time of 9/11, of the American flag falling into the dust. I thought at the time that it was from external forces. But we could very well cause our own demise if we don't step back, take a deep breath, and re-learn love. A president won't cause us to fail... we, the people, of the United States of America... we will cause ourselves to fail.

Hatred kills. It is an evil that is responsible for genocide, war, poverty, holocaust... anything terrible and destructive you can think of, probably started with two words "I hate..." It's definition: prejudiced hostility or animosity. (Prejudiced... so if you're fighting against prejudice... prejudice toward gays, blacks, women... and you say, "I hate straights, whites, men"... you have just contradicted yourself.) Let it stop with me. Let it stop with you.

Do you want peace? Do you want joy? Do you want unbridled creativity and new purpose? Act in love. Reach out and try to understand past our differences. Even if you cannot morally agree with someone else, love beyond it. See that in all our uniqueness, we are all humans. We deserve love. We were created to love and when we fail to love, when we live in hatred, we are failing to live up to our ultimate destiny. And as Americans, privileged people of a powerful nation, we should spread love around. Do you want to win back national and person dignity? Choose love. Choose to be the difference.

I have hated... and for this I am sorry. I have felt hates power burn in me. It feels like strength at the time. But it is weakness. Because it is a fire that becomes unquenchable in its lust for life and revenge. There is another fire I have felt. The hot passion of volcanic love. I do not mean a lusty, physical kind of love. I mean the spiritual love that transcends all things earthly, and when practiced, lifts us to heaven, enabling us to bring heaven back to earth. We must free this love more often. It is our purpose on this planet... our destiny... our call.

So whatever else you decide this election year... choose love. It's the only thing that can save us.

Your liberated love-bunny,
K