It's Even Uglier When It is Generated in Places Of Worship!
It's no coincidence that this blogger often refers
to some "places of worship" as Churches of Hate.
This is what I think of "religious leaders" who preach
against Islam, homosexuals or any other group of people
that they consider to be the "other".
They are plain out Bigots!
And, their actions are Evil!!
They are people who use their position and pulpit
to preach fear and hatred and judgment.
Their actions sanction intolerance,
narrow-mindedness and violence.
Their words are malevolent, vicious and abhorrent.
The ideas they promulgate are malicious,
pernicious and repugnant.
And the sad fact is that these people exist
in every group, ethnicity and religion.
These people cause great harm to the world.
And, the worst is that they use their position to
urge their congregants to spread the venom.
I believe this is what comes from the belief
that it is all about "us" and "them".
This is what comes from believing in "The Devil and his minions"
instead looking within to find the truth.
The problem with this kind of mindset is that there will always be
an unlimited supply of people who are different.
These demagogues can always find an "other" to hate,
and a way to call to our basest natures.
Anger feeds anger and hate feeds hate.
Hatred breeds acrimony, bitterness and rage.
It is the destroyer of peace.
And it alienates us from our Inner Spirit.
The sad fact, unfortunately, is that all human beings
are vulnerable to this base emotion.
It arises from our fear and from our instinctive need to survive.
But sometimes we have to fight against our knee-jerk reactions.
There comes a time when all humankind must grow past
our unconscious visceral predilections.
We must move past our biases, proclivities and preconceptions.
We must learn to think not only with our minds, but with our hearts.
And we must all learn to use our hearts as our compass.
So let us begin, once again, to recall that there is, in reality,
no "Us' and no "Them" nor is there any "Other"
Let us remember and relearn the old lesson that
Who is "Us" and who is "Them" is always in flux.
Together, let us all grow in awareness.
It's an old idea and never better expressed than by the words;
"WE HAVE MET THE ENEMY AND HE IS US."