{"id":31033,"date":"2020-01-07T21:17:38","date_gmt":"2020-01-08T03:17:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/?p=31033"},"modified":"2020-01-07T21:17:38","modified_gmt":"2020-01-08T03:17:38","slug":"advocating-peace-requires-more-than-hating-those-who-start-wars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/?p=31033","title":{"rendered":"Advocating peace requires more than hating those who start wars"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

If you just hate the people who start wars, you\u2019re ultimately no better than they are.<\/p>\n

The cultural reality is that political conservatives are more likely to advocate going to war \u2014 especially during a Republican administration \u2014 and progressive leftists are more likely to express strong hatred for warmongers \u2014 if they happen to be Republicans.<\/p>\n

And those two sides hate each other. The \u201cpro-war\u201d people and the \u201cpro-peace\u201d people both tend to be full of hate. There\u2018s something fundamentally wrong with that.<\/em><\/p>\n

I detest Donald Trump. I had a strong disregard and disrespect for the man long before it was ever suggested that he run for president. He is a loathsome and dysfunctional liar and narcissist. His ego and his lack of political skills might be leading us into a war right now \u2014 a war which I don\u2019t want.<\/p>\n

But I do not hate Trump. I don\u2019t hate the Iranian crowds who are chanting, \u201cDeath to America!\u201d<\/p>\n

Even if I detest the actions of people on both sides, I am making the difficult choice to love them \u2014 because hatred is what puts us where we are right now.<\/p>\n

Very few people today seem interested in understanding those who disagree with them. The attitude seems to be that “those people” are obviously wrong and stupid and evil, no matter which side you’re on.<\/p>\n

The truth is that intelligent and well-meaning people can disagree with one another, but if they don’t take the time to understand their differences, it’s easy to take the path toward dehumanization and hatred.<\/p>\n

Tonight, I see a lot of hatred all around. A lot of conservatives are expressing hate for the Iranians and expressing the desire to “nuke ’em ’til they glow.” A lot of anti-war people are expressing hate for Trump and John Bolton and a whole host of characters who they blame for putting us where we are.<\/p>\n

But if you want peace long term, it has to be about more than just being against something. It has to be about working for something positive. And as hard as this is to hear on a night with a lot of fear and anger in the air, that something positive is love.<\/p>\n

If you’re a Christian, it’s wise to take Jesus seriously when he tells us to love our enemies. In the Sermon on the Mount, he was very clear about this.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have heard that it was said, \u2018Love your neighbor and hate your enemy,\u2019\u201d<\/em> Jesus said, according to the Book of Matthew. \u201cBut I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

As far as I can tell, that applies to Trump and it applies to Iranians.<\/p>\n

I don’t want a war. I don’t support or admire the politicians \u2014 from various administrations going back for a century, both Republican and Democratic \u2014 who have created this conflict. But I don’t hate any of them.<\/p>\n

I want real peace — and real peace has to start with me. I have to love these people, whether I like them or agree with them or not.<\/p>\n

I hope you will consider the idea that peace and love have to start with you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you just hate the people who start wars, you\u2019re ultimately no better than they are. The cultural reality is that political conservatives are more likely to advocate going to war \u2014 especially during a Republican administration \u2014 and progressive leftists are more likely to express strong hatred for warmongers \u2014 if they happen to Keep Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-31033","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1x9iR-84x","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31033"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31033\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31039,"href":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31033\/revisions\/31039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}