"Where there is hatred, let me sow love." St Francis of Assissi
What would St. Francis think of the deep hatred toward the next President?
To say that I was astonished to open one of my favorite Facebook pages this morning, one associated at least in name with my own Church, to find not just this meme but more surprisingly the extreme animus contained in some of the comments on this meme. The kindest way I would describe some of them, a few of which are set forth below to demonstrate the source of my concern is that they seemed, at the very least, inappropriate and in poor taste for persons who proclaim themselves lifelong members of the Church whose name adorns the title of this page. This is not about the election- that was over at 1:38 am this past Wednesday and no one who knows us has any doubt about how overjoyed we were at the outcome. No, this is about the sheer, deep and abiding hatred shown by the person who would publish such a vicious message, which he or she had a perfect right to do under the First Amendment, and the same level of hatred shown by the persons who wrote some of the comments, comparing the President-Elect to Satan and similar language. I will say, however, that it was the steady drumbeat of language like this that put President Trump’s life in danger and may have, although I hasten to add that I do not know this to be a fact since the assassin is no longer with us, encouraged the killer at Butler and the “wannabe” assassin at West Palm Beach.
While many of the comments were critical of having such a post appear on a Facebook page so boldly identified with a Church -again, my Church- and calling it inappropriate, etc., some of the comments included such language as, in one case, the G—D——- phrase and in another case, one commenter telling another one to “eff off.” I have tried hard not to be the level of hypocrite it must take to claim that I never use bad language but for “life long churchgoers” to hold themselves out as that in one sentence and in the next use that kind of language about their fellow “life long churchgoers” is quite simply breathtakingly hypocritical.
Here is just a tiny sample of some of the comments:
but you vote for and condone a “pussy grabber” who revels in his conquests, a serial divorcee, protector of paedophiles, a thief of moneys for the poor, a thug who uses legal wrangles to get his own way, a president(???) who want to remove his criminal record. Perhaps your education never helped you understand the nature of hypocrisy?
We invited a demon into the White House just for the hope of 10 cents off on eggs, but the truth is, we'll probably pay 10 cents more.
(1) That [Abortion] was not her only platform. (2) Every state that had abortion on the ballot passed it. (3) Women are being forced to carry dead fetuses and remnants of miscarriages leading to their deaths for lack of medical treatment. (5) What gives anyone the right to control someone else's medical decisions? (6) The Bible says someone only becomes a person upon their first breath. (7) Unless and until a man can have a child he has no say in this.(8) I am content with my decision. (9) Are you happy with supporting a RAPIST and felon?
if you truly loved everyone, you would not have voted for a person like Trump. So go eff yourself with that noise
Again, this is not about limiting the free speech we are all guaranteed under the First Amendment and it is to question the right of every American citizen to decide who he or she is going to vote for. What it is about, however, is what language like this - on a platform associated with a major denomination- portends for the future and how it exhibits, in my opinion at least, such a deep hatred not only of one person but, as several comments expressed, for all supporters of that person. Last I counted those numbers were over 71 million voters— that’s a lot of demons, or, pieces of garbage.
My concern is if this level of hatred exists among a group of “life long churchgoers” it is staggering to imagine the level of hatred bubbling under the surface of others, including it is safe to say, the “unchurched.”
Trump Derangement Syndrome is obviously going to be with us and it carries the potential of fanning the flames for more violence- against President Trump and, it must be remembered, against us as well.