Love...

           “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:43-45)

          Today’s passage was the Scripture of the Day passage for Biblegateway.com. I suspect I’ve written about it, and probably not long ago, because it’s one of those verses to which I feel obligated to return, especially given our hate-filled society. Recently, someone shared something about watching The Sound of Music, and being reminded once again about how like Austria and Germany we are. I have to agree, but perhaps for reasons they wouldn’t have listed. I’ll come back to that in a moment.

          My response to the post was an admission I’ve been reluctant to make, because I suspect people will take it the wrong way or use it as precisely the opposite of what it is. Last summer, I read the first third to half of Mein Kampf. For those who aren’t familiar, it’s Adolph Hitler’s equivalent of Mr. Obama’s Dreams of My Father (which I haven’t read yet, but probably should.)  I plan to try to finish Mein Kampf this year.

          I thought I’d tried to read it before, and had dismissed it as lunatic ramblings, but this time, what I’m finding is an in some ways fairly astute (albeit biased) social commentary. He loved his land, and he saw German culture being destroyed by International Socialists, particularly those of Hungarian and Jewish persuasion. I agree with him that International Socialism is evil. I disagree with him that German Socialism is good. I also disagree with his belief that any means necessary is acceptable.

          Which brings us back to how like Austria and Germany at the time when the event that inspired The Sound of Music were taking place we are. We live in a society in which International Socialists are seeking to destroy our culture, and anyone who disagrees with them is being categorized as a Hitler wanna-be. Both sides are being pushed to hate the other, and proclaim that they are justified in that hatred because the other side is evil. It’s the enemy of all mankind.

          Of course, what the people making that comparison forget is that there was a third perspective, shared not by world leadership (necessarily) but by a third group of people who got involve in the conflict between the International and the National Socialists: the Americans. We entered the war against the most obvious threat, but in a sense, World War II didn’t end with VE or VJ day. It ended with the tearing down of the Berlin Wall. But I digress

          Back to Hitler. Lots of people think themselves right to hate Hitler. They think they’re right to hate Ted Bundy, or Nancy Pelosi, or the folks who hijacked the planes on 9-11. They think they should hate people who abuse dogs or children, or who disagree with their political perspective. They seem to think that only by demonizing these people, by expressing the depth of their emotional loathing can they distance themselves and show themselves better than these people.

          There’s a story told about a victim of the German concentration camps who was called to testify at the trial of one of the leading Nazis. When he faced the man across the courtroom, he burst into tears and explained later that he had realized as he faced the Nazi that the Nazi wasn’t some demon or monster. He was a human being, just like the witness.

          One of my favorite quotes of C.S. Lewis points out that we are all in the process of becoming either something too wonderful to behold or something out of our worst nightmares. When we hate, we either don’t care whether they become something from our worst nightmares, or we encourage them along that way. When we love, we care, and we encourage them to become something wonderful. If that’s not possible, they may need to be imprisoned or executed, but that shouldn’t bring us joy. If it does, we’re hating and disobeying Christ.