New reporting this week puts at over 40,000 the number of Finns who have renounced their membership in the national Finnish Lutheran Church as a result of the hateful positions expressed by representatives of the church on a televised debate about gay rights last month.
Call me naive, or just plain stupid, but I never cease to be amazed at the ways (and reasons) in which otherwise good, well-meaning people come to hate other people. I suppose it would be easy to pass this off as just simple fear of The Other, something or someone a person either can’t or won’t take the time to understand. There’s certainly a lot of that flavor of fear and hatred out there, but what I find truly disturbing is the institutionalization of hatred, the idea the hatred, discrimination, and oppression can, should, and indeed MUST be legislated and legitimized. This MUST be done, of course, to protect all good and decent people (and, by extension, their innocent, impressionable, and terribly vulnerable offspring) from the perversions of those who have gone over to the Dark Side.
Whether it’s homosexuals (what African-Americans were in the ’60s) or another perceived bogeyman, hatred and discrimination is all the rage. There’s nothing particularly new or unusual about this, of course. Anyone who’s ever read Dr. Seuss’ story of the Sneetches and the Star Bellies knows that hatred and discrimination are time-honored traditions. When it appears in childrens literature, you have to know that it’s a recurring theme.
Too often, hatred is justified using religion…and it’s not limited to Christianity, though in this country Christianity is the most visible and obvious culprit. Internationally, Islam and Judaism more than hold their own in this department, in some cases far more creatively and egregiously than anything American Christians could come up with. That hatred and oppression are not to be found in the teachings of these religions is not nearly enough to stop those determined to justify their desire to destroy The Other because of their lifestyle, who they love, and/or what they happen to believe.
I’m not going to waste space or energy bemoaning this sorry state of affairs…mostly because I know that nothing I could possibly say will change the mind of anyone determined to hate someone. I just have one simple observation to make, and then I’ll go on about my business:
What would happen if we could all put the same effort and energy into loving our fellow human being that we do into hating and trying to find ways to destroy them?
I know; call me naive…. ;-)
