THE ONLY REMEDY FOR HATE IS LOVE – 10-11-2020

THE ONLY REMEDY FOR HATE IS LOVE
For the past four years, we have experienced an increase in overt racial Confrontations. We have witnessed a rise in racial hostility. Many of us have viewed the videos that were posted of white people who have questioned the right of Black
people to be in lobby and swimming pool of hotels where they are paid guests. We have watched the videos that were posted of white people who have sought to deny the entrance of Black people to apartment buildings and complexes where they are residents. We have observed in utter disbelief the videos that were posted of white people who have called law enforcement on Black people who have done nothing wrong with the expectation that they would be removed, cited and/or charged with a crime. We have witnessed in horror the videos that were posted of unarmed Black people being murdered, shot, choked, thrown to the ground, and violated by those who have taken a sworn oath to protect and serve.

This ugly and vile behavior has been reinforced and exacerbated by the president of the United States, Donald Trump, who from the moment he rode down the escalator to announce his candidacy for president has stoked the flames of racial
biases, racial fears, cultural differences, ethnic dissimilarities and has used every opportunity previously present while creating new opportunities to further divide and deepen wedges between people in this country.

Statements that were once only shared in private are being shouted in public. Beliefs that were once held internally are now being hailed externally. Conversations that people were once embarrassed to talk out and even think out are now
being lived out. Honestly, what should we expect when we hear the despicable rhetoric coming from the White House? When given the opportunity to denounce white supremacy groups in the first presidential debate of 2020, Trump instead
responded to the Proud Boys, “Stand back and stand by.” Of course, they heard this not as a rebuke, rather, as a sign of affirmation and a signal to get ready to move at his command.

The Southern poverty Law Center writes regarding the Proud Boys:
Their disavowals of bigotry are belied by their actions: rank-and-file Proud Boys and leaders regularly spout white nationalist memes and maintain affiliations with known extremists. They are known for anti-Muslim and misogynistic rhetoric. Proud Boys have appeared alongside other hate groups at extremist
gatherings like the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville. Indeed, former Proud Boys member Jason Kessler helped to organize the event, which brought together Klansmen, antisemites, Southern racists, and militias. Kessler was only “expelled” from the group after the violence and near-universal condemnation of the
Charlottesville rally-goers.

The danger of the despicable rhetoric coming from Trump and complicity of the Republican leadership has produced an environment that emboldened militia groups in Michigan where thirteen people were charged on Thursday in a domestic
terrorism plot to kidnap Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Six people were charged federally with conspiracy to kidnap, and seven other people, associated with the militia group "Wolverine Watchmen," were charged by the state.
If there ever was a time when we needed to be clear regarding the love of Jesus towards us and the expectation of the love that we need to share with others, now is that time. Now is a time for action…a time for the people of God to, at the least,
raise our voices, and at best, raise our bodies to stand in opposition to the direction our country is moving. Edmund Burke said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men [women] to do nothing.”

Additionally, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that." Strength to Love, 1963.

You cannot do everything. However, you can do what you can do. What is God calling you to do?

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