Love And Peace, Not Division And Hatred

This morning I was thinking about our country (USA) and how the political division is becoming more and more reactionary and alarming.  It seems to m that we are losing our ability to see each other as people, and instead labeling one another based on who they support, never even bothering to get to know them at all or hear what they have to say.  We are giving into hate and division and letting others tell us how to think and feel.   We seem to be shifting our thinking from objective truth to subjectiveness.  We are allowing our logical minds to become clouded, subject to our emotions and our latest offense.  We seem to be losing our ability to think rationally, and it very worrisome.

I was reminded of a documentary called "We Are All Neighbors" (British Granada TV)  that I watched several years ago that described the breakdown of society that occurred in Bosnia, during the war. In this film, the neighbors in this Muslim/Croatian village have lived together peacefully for many years, and although the conflict is occurring in their country, it is many miles from them.  When asked if their differences would ever be a problem, villagers on both sides said that would be impossible.  They had grown up with each other as neighbors, watched each other's children, eaten in each other's homes and been on friendly terms their entire lives. Yet what occurs is the exact opposite! As the conflict draws nearer, mistrust begins to develop between the previously peaceful and trusting neighbors, and soon they stop talking and interacting, and even allow hatred to rise up.  By the time the documentary is completed, the village is in shambles, the Muslim homes have been destroyed, neighbors have killed neighbors and they have stopped thinking of each other as neighbors, instead referring to each other by their religious/ethnic labels.

It is a very sad movie, and to me there seemed to be a spiritual component that was evident but not discussed, for the division that occurred came quickly and was completely illogical.  These were not barbaric or simple people, but normal everyday people in 1993.  They were all ethnic Croats, but some families had converted long ago to Islam under the Ottoman occupation, thus the only difference was their religion.  What occurred over the time that the filming was done was a complete demonization of a whole religious ethnic group (by both sides), regardless of their individual character, the witness of their lives or even their relationships with people from the other group.  In viewing the change, it seemed to me to be something of greater strength was affecting the people and causing them to lose their ability to think objectively.  It seemed to me that it was a spiritual force causing division, and inflaming passions and rhetoric against one another.

So my meditation this morning is on the present state of our own USA, and wondering if we are allowing ourselves to be drawn into a similar situation, regardless of the side we are on?  If God is Love (1 John 4:8), what is the source of hatred and division?  It seems to me that much of what we are giving into and allowing to color our thinking is fear based, and this drives us toward division and even hatred, if not certainly mistrust.  John, in his first letter, goes on to write that "perfect love drives out fear" (1 John 4:18), so I believe that love for one another is where we must start.

Our world history is replete with many examples of the demonization of whole people groups based on their beliefs, race or thinking.  The worst examples are when we dehumanize groups and then seek to destroy them, for they are no longer "human" in our eyes.  I believe that much of this is the result of spiritual forces, whose desire is to kill and destroy (John 10:10).   We see this over and over again in our human experience, and my fear is that we are seeing the beginnings of this type of thinking in our nation, based on the present political environment.

I know many people on both sides of the political divide and know them to be good, honest, loving, caring, and hard working people.  If you were to put us all together in a room, mixed half and half,  several years ago and ask who we hated, there wouldn't have been anyone we could label as such.  Yet today,  I think that I would find that many, by way of labels associated with political beliefs, would now harbor significant mistrust about the other half, and that makes me sad and somewhat fearful of the path we are heading down.

I am asking us to stop and think, to allow peace and love to settle into our hearts and minds, and remember our affection and love for one another.  John wrote the following, "Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." (1 John 4:11).  I am asking us to reject the labels that are being affixed to one another based on political leanings, to reject the demonization of the "other" group, and to stop listening to the voices that inflame this partizan thinking and anger.

Can we lay down our offenses and reach across the dividing line (which is more in our mind than anywhere) and love one another?  Can we choose to hold onto the premises of our founding fathers, that this is a nation that provides freedom and liberty for all, and that we are one nation?  Can we choose to look at one another as people first, not seeing them as anything else, regardless of their political, social, or religious  beliefs?  Can we be kind in our words, and thoughts about one another?  Can we reject the forces that would cause us to embrace division, those that seek to label and dehumanize one another?

My prayer this morning is for all of us in this great nation, and for all those around the world who are suffering the results of religious, political or racial divisions.  May love and peace rule in our hearts and minds!

Amen!