Groups such as the Neo-Nazis, Skinheads, KKK, and White Nationalists, like a multi-headed serpent, have again come to a very vocal and violent presence in our country and world. Even though they should be shouted down from every voice from every corner of our nation, we have some who would claim these hate mongers as "Good people". Hear me clearly, those who would advocate hate are not "Good". They are not "Christian", they are not "good citizens of America", they are not anything but purveyors of hate. My father was severely wounded, and almost lost his life (But for the strategic placement of a Gideon's Bible taking the shrapnel) in fighting against these very low level dredges of society.
Yet here they are, coming again and again, spilling their vile, poisonous venom, amplifying it with violence and murder. As a strong believer in the First Amendment to free speech, they have the right to speak, however wrong they may be. But it is then up to us, as citizens, as Christians, as humans, to counter that speech until it is driven out, and no more assails and sickens us.
If you think my denunciation of these scum as too harsh, then I would refer you to a higher source.
Leviticus 19:17-18
“You shall not hate your brother in
your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin
because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons
of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
Amos 5:15
Hate evil, and love good, and
establish justice in the gate;
Romans 12:9
Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.
Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
1 John 2:11
But whoever hates his brother is in
the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going,
because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
1 John 4:20-21
If anyone says, “I love God,” and
hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he
has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this
commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
And maybe my favorite:
1 John 4:7-12
Beloved, let us love one another,
for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone
who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In
this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son
into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is
love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be
the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we
also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if
we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
That is pretty specific. Someone whose beliefs include a hatred or bigotry of another person or group because of race, religion, or even just being different, falls into that category. "If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar". And Jesus was even more specific than that.
Matthew 5:21-22
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, "You fool!" will be liable to the hell of fire."So why speak out? Because without speaking out, the voices, the hatred, the violence only continues and grows; growing ever more bold, ever more confident, ever more evil. If we do not speak out, we are complicit in all that follows.
One last word on this, from pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He knew this evil quite intimately, and gave his life to stand against it in Nazi occupied Germany, even when he could have escaped with his life. He said,
"Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act."
Will you stay silent? Or will you take a stand?
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