I am amazed at how polarizing the events in Ferguson, Missouri have been. If Social Media is a barometer, then the world seems to be divided, not by race, not by political party, not by social status or economic status, but by those who hate and those who would prefer not to hate or at least want to understand others’ situations–maybe, maybe, we can even condense that into those who love. To hate or to love. How simple is that? Before you tell me this simplifies a complicated issue too much, or you quickly defend yourself by saying, “I’m one of those who loves,” think about it. We can all do a little soul-searching at a time like this.
If we think we’re better than another group of people (like African Americans living in poverty in Ferguson), then our form of arrogance is the same as hatred. If we think we’re more moral than other people, isn’t that a form of hatred? If we think other people do everything wrong, while we are usually “right,” isn’t that hatred? If we believe our religion is the only one in the world with the corner on truth, then our narrow-mindedness is a version of hate. Plenty of wars in world history have proven that true. It’s too easy to divide the world into “us” and “them,” whether we find slurs to use against other groups we think don’t deserve what we deserve, or even if we’re well-intentioned in our condescending benevolence, if we think we’re “right,” we have a huge possibility of being wrong.
I know quite a few people in this world who would say that they don’t hate. But still, they sit on moral high horses, condemning an 18-year-old who stole Cigarellos. And say that maybe he got what he deserved because he stole. Yeah, stealing is wrong…stealing a possession– from an individual or from a business–or stealing the truth, or… stealing equal opportunities from people. And unfairness breeds more and more unfairness. Stealing in one way begets other kinds of stealing. And that, of course, makes untangling the web of “wrong” not such an easy task. Think about what Nelson Mandela said:
“When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw.”
― Nelson Mandela
All that does make the issue far more complicated to fix. However, there is a place where each one of us can start. Once again, Nelson Mandela has insight for us:
“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”
― Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
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