Some time ago, I wrote that words are not violence, which is of course true. Words are words. We all know that words can also hurt, but we also need to harden ourselves to a degree that “Sticks and stones may break my bones / But words shall never hurt me”, as the children’s rhyme goes. The very fact that this is a children’s rhyme — that it is something kids may have to learn — is depressing in itself. But nevertheless, the lesson is true: There will always be people out there saying things they shouldn’t be saying, and we cannot — and should not want to — control all speech, so we need to adjust and occasionally swallow our pride — and pain.
That does not make it right to say bad things to others or about others, or to have bad thoughts about them — this is still despicable behavior, but we are all human. We all know people we may not like, and occasionally, think bad thoughts about them, or say them to confidantes in private to process our feelings and to help us get it “out of our system.” We should not stand in judgement of others — “Judge not, that you be not judged” (Matthew 7:1). If we let too much darkness into our hearts, into our souls, it will poison us. We should love each other — especially those it may seem counterintuitive to love — because we should be filled with love, because this is the essence of life, and of the divine. That does not mean to accept bad behavior, but we can love the person as a fellow living being and still reject their beliefs and/or deeds.
Now, we are living in times of polarization. What is polarization? It is the deliberate choice to replace love with hate — not just of ideas, but of people holding these ideas. We fail, and indulge in failing, to even attempt to see the person behind the objectionable speech or other act. We also judge mere moments in someone’s life and let them determine how we perceive the entire person. Rather than to think or say, a person has said something I would disagree with, we say, this is a bad or evil person for saying this even once, and the person is irredeemably deplorable. This is our culture now. We do not just approve or disapprove of ideas, we reject people. We are beyond “canceling” ideas that may be seen as harmful or offensive (even though I would not even agree with such canceling, as I believe that speech needs to be free); we cancel people and expect them to never recover from it, to “go away” “forever.” We have become a full-on consumer culture: What we want, we get, what we don’t want anymore, we throw away — and we have adapted that behavior no longer just to things but to people. Technology plays a role here too, in the sense that it removes even the last of our inhibitions. Technology prevents thinking – and thus, morality. It creates exactly the opposite of what Hannah Arendt called out for in “Thinking and Moral Considerations.”
We need to stop. We need to stop ourselves whenever we can and start thinking — so that we prevent us from doing something that cannot be undone.
So, if you dislike a candidate for political office, you can say so. You can disapprove of their positions, their actions, their intellectual and political bedfellows — but they still are living beings that deserve the respect all life deserves. They are human or “sentient” just like you and I. They deserve to be loved and respected — in a democracy, also for being willing to hold public office and fulfill their civic duty.
We should not judge — and I include myself in that. I am not perfect either, I have had less than perfect thoughts about others. I am trying to contain myself. Hate is a poison of mind and soul and heart. It does, indeed, lead to the dark side.
Now recently, we have seen this spill over. It was only a matter of time that all the hatred and fear in our society would come to a boiling point. Former President Trump was shot. He survived because he turned his head in the right direction in the right moment for a split-second.
If you talk, day in and day out, about a political candidate and former public official — with one full term of President as precedent — as a Nazi, a fascist, racist, a danger to democracy etc., what do you think will happen? By the way, if I were allowed to vote in the US, I would probably not vote for Trump. But he is none of these bad things. He is indeed a provocateur, he is an ultimate opportunist and populist, and he shapes the truth in a way it suits him. Do criticize him for concrete political ideas and policy and eventual follow-through. See the good also. Has he been the worst President in history? Such in itself Trumpian hyperbole is unhelpful — and myopic. Trump has not started a single war, in contrast to George W. Bush. He refused to accept he lost, but others have had difficulty letting go. Many of those supporting Stacy Abrams had a tough time accepting her loss in 2018, and let’s not forget the whole Bush-v-Gore debacle. Trump certainly doubled down on dysfunction, but can we prove that he wanted January 6, 2020 to happen as it did? I doubt it, but he certainly could have been understood by more radical thinkers in his party to have endorsed their behavior, even though he may have been oblivious to it initially.
Words don’t hurt per say, but they matter, and they can lead to pain and suffering. We have a responsibility to speak in a way that does not give others an excuse to do harm.
Finally, it does not matter who the victim of political or word-induced violence will be in the end. Victim is victim.
We have some serious introspection to do, and also, some behavioral changes to consider. We all are responsible for our thoughts, speech and actions. By dehumanizing others, we will eventually dehumanize ourselves, and make the unthinkable thinkable and doable.
This polarization needs to stop. Talk politics, but respect and love each other. That’s what it needs to be, what it must be for democracy, for humanity, to survive.
Sermon over.
Erratic Attempts 