Then there is racism. On racism, I know. On this I will not have tolerance. After coming to the sad realization that sometimes, just sometimes the racism among us is not just benign ignorance or playful ribbing, I can no longer remain silent.
The things we say matter. The things we laugh at matter. It matters because left unchecked, hatred turns into murder. Jesus wasn't kidding when he called hatred the equivalent of murder.
Once upon a time, a country allowed itself to be swept away with fear and hatred of a group of people perceived to have brought ruin on the entire country. Once upon a time, that country stood by while six million people were killed in a horrific manner. Once upon a time, we promised ourselves we would never let this happen again. Once upon a time we made Hitler out to be someone entirely removed from us.
A monster.
And yet, I find my brothers and sisters buying into the lie that it's even remotely okay to hate Obama for his skin color. I find my brothers and sisters blinded to the fact that they even hate him because of his skin color when it is quite clear that they do. I find my brothers and sisters buying into the us-versus-them mentality, the mentality that has the historic potential to end in violence. In genocide.
And even if it never comes to that?
It means that we hate.
And Jesus says to hate is to kill.
To hate is to close our hearts to the Spirit. To allow fear to drive out love. To hate is to deny the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross for people like Obama, for the people we so easily fear and hate.
The next time someone says something that categorizes people based on their skin color, I pray I will have the courage to approach it with no tolerance. With love, yes. But with no tolerance. Because, quite frankly, it's not okay.
No more.
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