Wednesday, March 14, 2018

The Culture of Hate

As a religious writer, I struggle to not become involved in politically generated frays, yet many of my constituents or peers and associates seem to relish the opportunity of open condemnation while buying into the concept of, "Thou shall not Judge".  The moral, spiritual and political consciousness of our world and society has shifted causing a new culture to emerge.  Social, political and ethnic groups that once viewed themselves as depressed entities and victims of hate provide the fuel this new culture.  They now seek to eradicate hate through creating new laws, shaming and direct confrontation, thus creating more hate in the process.
Love and hate are emotions of the heart that radiate like the sun, even when not seen its presence can be felt.  Many of us know the feeling of walking into a room filled with hate or the joy of walking into a room filled with love.  Hate is nurtured through exposure, and when agitated it spreads.  Hate is infectious like a virus that breaks down the Hearts immune system.  Once the immune system is compromised, all of the depravities of humanity rushes in to fill any available space rooting out all that is good in the process.  Hate infect young and old,  it cannot be destroyed nor contained by laws. The prodigies of hate include child suicide, murders.
The common denominator for murder is the sin that manifests itself as hate. Hate is an emotion that spring forth from the heart of man.  Wikipedia defines hate as deep and extreme emotional dislike, especially invoking feelings of anger or resentment. It can be directed against individuals, groups, entities, objects, behaviors, or ideas. Hatred is often associated with feelings of anger, disgust and a disposition towards humanity.  Nurturing hate will cause one to destroy themselves as well as others.  
Hate is a spiritual entity that infects the heart of humanity.  Like the wind, we cannot see it but we can feel it.  We cannot control the wind, we cut down trees to build houses to protect us, thereby exposing us to more severe winds.  The condemning of sin in the flesh or self-judging is the only control for hate. Paul speaking to the Roman Jews who place a great value upon the Law of God and man, eloquently stated to some dismay, "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:" (Romans 8:3) Sadly this solution is often overlooked as we clamor for more laws.   Laws do not prevent, they set a boundary and provide for the punishment of those who trespass.

The laws of this nation once were formulated around the Bible, a strong adherence to the Ten Commandments, but that has changed.  Laws are now formulated to appease the seared conscious of humanity.  Words such as judging, hate and even sin have become a burden and many are disagreeing with their meaning and what they believe.  Christianity has failed to reach a consensus and is becoming mired in a bog of confusion as it seeks to redefine itself as a religion of tolerance.  All of these acts have rendered the application of the Word of God impotent and irrelevant. 
If the message emulating from the church is not about God's love and what he is doing for us, then the message is cast aside as "that's just his or her opinion.  We have become as the scripture states, a people "whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.) For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:" (Philippians 3:19-20)  Consider this, if God was doing all of the things that we claim he is doing, then humanity is off the hook and the world is a beautiful place.
We have arrived at a juncture in our tenure here on earth where it is no longer fashionable to refer to Christ as the only begotten Son of God.  Politicians, popular talk show host, and enterprising speakers have advanced the ideology that we must share the position of our deity with other notable personalities.  Other detractors spend great moments seeking to define what color is a supernatural being.  This is necessary to advance the culture of hate.  Many churches, once the gatekeeper of our society has long been known for accepting money from the government, they have abandoned their post and in many instances, they have become caught up in the culture of hate.   
The question that I pose, after the first time I was chastised for using the word hate in bible study lesson, is it possible to eradicate hate?  As a Bible scholar, I must rely on the Bible for guidance.  There are instances of profound hatred throughout the Holy Scripture.  God spoke to the Prophet Malachi and said, "And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness." (Malachi 1:3)   Even Jesus in his disdain for what the church had become, declared, "But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate." (Revelation 2:6)   A profound act of hatred accrued when Lucifer rebelled against God.  This was hatred on a supernatural level.  There are numerous scriptural references to this epic battle, but Revelation 12:7-10  recounts the event.  Parallels are drawn to the passage in Isaiah 14:4-17 that mentions the "son of the morning" that had "fallen from heaven" and was "cast down to the earth".
A war started in heaven and now the people of the earth are included in the war. How could Satan think he could win against God? What strategy might he be using?  Satan has attacked God and His government. In getting Eve to sin, Satan specifically got Eve to distrust God.  To distrust sows the seeds of hatred.  She was led to believe that God was holding back what should have been hers.  This scenario is still being played out today.  Satan must have used the same kind of attack against the angels in heaven.
I cannot help but wonder how Satan could figure that he might win a war against God, the Creator of all things? God is all powerful while Satan and His evil angels are only created beings. So why did Satan attack God? They do not have the power of God and they tremble at the thought of God:  Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. James 2:19.  It appears that Satan is waging a legal war. He is playing on the fairness of God and in doing so, it is his hope he can trap God in a situation that he cannot back away from.  A reading of Daniel 6 will enlighten us on a parallel situation.  The King trapped by his minions into making a law did something that he did not want to do.

The next occurrence of hate, the common denominator of all sin was when Cain slew his brother Abel.  The murder was against the ordinance of God, therefore Cain was punished for his transgression.  Later when God set forth his Laws to the Children of Israel, he issued a declaration that said, "Thou shall not Kill", Exodus 20:13, KJV.  This did not prevent humanity from committing murder.  I listen intently as the pious prelate built his Exegesis of  The Word around the necessity of more laws to combat the spiraling murder rate, whereas God in his supreme wisdom knew that compounding laws upon laws would not solve the problem. 

On October 28, 2009, President Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, attached to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010.  It superseded state rights thereby creating a new level of hatred.  This act expanded existing United States federal hate crime law to apply to crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability, and dropped the prerequisite that the victim must be engaging in a federally protected activity.  Prior to the enacting of these updates, the Civil Rights Act of 1968 sort to remain consistent with the teaching of the Bible. 
Blinded by the hype we failed to see the storm that was unleashed upon humanity.  Beginning in 1968 these laws unleashed a hailstorm of hatred.  On October 28, 2009, these laws expanded and enacted divided the world population in such a manner as it has never been.  The values of old were sacrificed upon the altar of political correctness, and what emerged from the smoke was a culture of hate.  Never in my lifetime have I seen such manifestation of hate.