Sunday Sermon: The Hate Has To Stop

            I was awake this morning when the news broke of the shooting in Orlando. I watched it unfold in my newsfeed as I hoped for very few dead. Not something I ever wanted to have to say, but in a mass shooting it is something you hope for. Unless of course you are the shooter, which in that case I don’t care what you want. And, then I find out they arrested another man in Santa Monica who was planning an attack on the gay pride parade there. They say it appears the two were not connected at this point.

            All I know is it was driven by hate. And, whether by those claiming to be Muslim or Christian or whatever religion you want to be I don’t care. First go back and read your religious texts, because every religious leader preached tolerance and peace as well as taking care of the poor. Neither Jesus nor Mohammad preached hate against others. Mohammad preached taxes and conversion. As well as taking territory but not hate.

            Jesus preached loving everyone and taking care of the sick and the poor as well as treating everyone equally. And, some in each faith have strayed into hating others. They are doing the work or evil without even knowing it. It doesn’t matter who’s name you do it in evil is still evil. And, hate has never been anything but evil. And, where there is hate you will find men like me and others willing to stand up against it always.

            Like they did on D-Day when they stormed the beaches of Normandy in World War 2 taking a stand against hate and tyranny knowing that they had a slim chance of surviving. Like Japanese-Americans did as well in World War 2 hoping to show us that they were loyal and didn’t deserve to be locked up in internment camps like we had done to them. As Martin Luther King Jr. preached over and over again. Hate has no place in this country and we will continue to drive it out.

            The American People have risen time and time again saying we will not bow to hate we will rise above it. You can hate all you want. You can wound us. You can kill us. But we will not be defeated. We will not break in our resolve to live free and be happy. We will not be forced to live in fear or to have to hate certain people because someone says we must. We will stand united because as someone once said, “United we stand, divided we fall.”.

            You keep trying to break us claiming you are so righteous in your many forms, but all you are is fear basically. You don’t understand something so you fear it and then that turns to hate. And, then you justify it any way you can. We understand you are born out of ignorance and we do not fear you. We stand against you not in anger. We are willing to educate you and help you understand. Just come to the table with an open mind.

            No one wants to take your religion away from you. No one is out to hurt you. Let’s be civilized adults and talk about this without going off the hinges. Or using quotes from ancient books. Let’s stick to basic principles taught. We can have a nice meal and talk it all out. It would be worth it just to experience the array of dishes at a potluck such as what could be had. I mean after all who doesn’t like food.

            I think you get my point though so I will climb down off my soap box for now. Feel free to leave questions and comments below. And, if you want my columns to appear in your inbox enter your email address in the box below where it says to follow by email. As for me it is time to get started on the new term for school. *Tips his hat and walks out the door. *