Before you come at me with pitchforks about racists, hear me out.
For generations many Americans grew up in a culture where they were taught to ignore, belittle, preach against, and shun gays and lesbians, unwed mothers, the disabled, and people of color. They were taught to treat them less than, someone to avoid at all costs.
The reason for doing this?
Because these people were considered less worthy. Because they had done something wrong. People were taught not to talk about these things.
And so two extremes grew. Either screaming in condemnation or a deathly silence that didn’t acknowledge even the existence of people who were deemed less than.
And in that silence and screaming,
hatred grew.
No longer did we see people. Instead, we saw things we were afraid of. Things that would contaminate us if we got too close. People who were no longer people, but things.
Slowly, oh so slowly we have come to the knowledge that these are people.
REAL people.
People who are no different than you or I. People that God loves just as much as you and I. Slowly, we are having our fingers pried off of our eyes to see racists and more.
We may not agree with a young woman’s choice to have a baby out of wedlock. We don’t have to. It wasn’t our choice. It wasn’t our life. We can still believe that it is wrong to have a baby without being married. But we can and we should, still love that person.
It may make you uncomfortable and squirm a bit to get out of your comfort zone and interact with people who look differently from you. Maybe they act differently too. They have different life experiences.
But this is what brings beauty to life-
the differences.
God made us all different, and that it one of the best things I know about him.
Importantly, you don’t have to agree with someone’s lifestyle or choices to love them. Loving them doesn’t mean you agree with everything in their life.
As the conversation has focused front and center about the black community, and our responsibilities to them, I’m disturbed by the messaging I am seeing. Some are saying that if we are/were friends with someone who doesn’t understand, that doesn’t believe that there is a race problem in this nation, or someone who is racist, we should not be their friend. “We should unfriend them on social media and block them. They should no longer be in our lives. They need to know that their beliefs, their words, are wrong.”
But here’s the thing, if we unfriend them, and refuse to have anything to do with them, they are never going to hear different points of view because the only people they have left in their lives are people who think like they do.
Their beliefs become an echo chamber that only gets louder, affirming their beliefs.
I fully support unfriending racists, or unfollowing them if you need to for your mental health. Your mental health and safety is important. But if you can stomach it, stay on the periphery of their lives. Show them love and compassion as God shows each of us. Giving them access to knowledge of other opinions, thoughts and experiences.
Thank you. A huge virtual hug to you. Things like this need to be said. It hurts; but we all need to be able to grow. Change is difficult; and we are only able to help change one person at a time.
Thank you.