Hate Dehumanizes

Hateful words may not break your bones but it can break your heart and spirit, which takes a lot longer to heal than broken bones. It can break friendships, marriages and turn brother against brother. Almost two thousand years ago James wrote an entire chapter of the Bible about the tongue, “a restless evil full of deadly poison.” Most of us have had words said about us that deeply damaged our reputations or maybe cost us a job and friends. Its not the passing words of anger that cause the most damage but in the creation of distorted words of half truths and lies.

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We see websites that distort the truth and are full of hate. Some people listen to this hate mongering that is filled with poison and evil mindedness. They become so immersed in hate that they can’t distinguish truth from fiction. Just one example of what happens, In May, James von Brunn walked into the Holocaust Museum and killed a guard. He was stopped before he could kill others. Von Brunn had a long history of participation in groups that feed on hatred of Jews. He maintained a website which spewed poisonous words of venom. Venom that sent him on his quest for blood.

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Language shapes reality. When Jews, Muslims, or illegal immigrants or any other minority are spoken of in a dehumanizing way, when they are tarred with the brush of “other” we are only a step away from violence. Words have power. We can use them to create words of truth and goodness or we can allow our tongues to be infected with deadly poisons. We can use words to spread truth or we can use them to create malice and hatred.

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We can fight evil by paying attention to words in which we surround ourselves, by what we read , listen to and watch. Do the words we listen to dehumanize others, are they more interested in spreading hate and fear than truth? If so we need to turn off the computer, TV, or radio, put away the book and discuss the truth based on facts, not half truths and innuendo.

We combat hatred by watching our own tongues. We can ask ourselves three questions before we pass on any information. Is it true? Will it help anyone? Do we want the whole world to know we said it? If we can answer yes to all three questions then it’s safe to pass it along. Otherwise, we could be guilty of more harm than we can imagine. Lies and half truths breed hatred and evil. We can turn away and refuse to participate. It’s up to us to promote the kind of world we want to live in.

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http://socyberty.com/history/America-the-beautiful/

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http://socyberty.com/issues/creation-or-evolution/

http://quazen.com/reference/biography/the-first-ladys-roots-in-georgia/