How does one react in the face of pure hatred? If
you are cornered by a person so full of malice they've become subhuman because
of your beliefs, lifestyle, or any number of personal choices, how do you
protect yourself? It is not simply shown through words or looks; sometimes the
disdain is shown in physical violence. How do you fend for yourself when someone
has been brought up believing that you are not even human, yourself?
A prime example of this is hate crime. A young man, bleeding from being beaten within
inches of his life, takes in the coolness of the asphalt as relief from the
swollen bruises on his broken face and ribs and hopes the group doesn't come
back for more. All he wanted was to enjoy an evening with his partner: a nice
restaurant, movie, and maybe a kiss. If only he’d left a little bit earlier, he
wouldn't have run into the group of guys waiting outside the club for an
unsuspecting victim.
In what world is it right to abuse someone for their
personal behavior? An innocent person, while practicing taboo sexual practices,
is not guilty of anything more than what he does in his own bedroom. Sure, he
seems abnormal to the group of masculine, meat-heads that perpetrated the
action of breaking his every bone. But he is no less human than the child whose
disturbed father comes to him at night for pleasure. In fact, this may very
well be the cause of such “sexual deviance” in many cases. However, regardless
of his sexual preference, he is not some THING to be taught a lesson through
thrown punches and fatal kicks. He is a human being, capable of love and
compassion, unlike the perverted members of the group that caused him physical
harm based on his personal choices.
We believe with every fiber of my being that hate
crime is wrong; hatred turns good people into beasts. When a person acts out
because of some deep-seated hatred of a lifestyle choice, religion, culture,
race, etc., that person instantly loses his/her human rights. The law should
take less time worrying about why the victim was attacked, and more time
hunting down the pack of low life crap that has the nerve to torture another
human being. We have seen this sort of thing in Civil Rights movements and even
in the Holocaust. Why don’t we do something to defend people? Do you know, in
the Bible, God had to spread everyone out because we were working together TOO
WELL? The reason we have different races and languages is because if we all
spoke the same language, we would all be working together to obtain supreme
power. Ha! So why not take some time to get to know your brothers and sisters
in humanity, rather than hating them for something you don’t agree with.
Christians are taught to “hate the sin, love the sinner.” Basically, from what
we understand, this means that you don’t have to partake or even approve of the
choices others make; instead, make an example of how you think he/she should
live by showing that person love and compassion. It is much more complicated
than that, we're sure, but for all intents and purposes, it sounds more
manageable. So, maybe next time you see a behavior you don’t like, maybe a
beggar on the street, don’t be hateful towards the person. Rather, figure out
what would motivate this person to change: in the beggar’s case, you could
offer him/her some PB and bread instead of money.
Well, that is all we have to say about that.
Happy pooping, friends. Hope you have a great day!
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