As this year's election cycle
moves from angst to anger to aggravation, I would like to make a plea.
I refuse to demonize fellow Americans despite
the real and serious differences we may have on public policy and the best
vision of the future. It should be possible, even essential, to practice
courtesy towards those with whom we disagree. Democracies don't last long otherwise. It's right to feel passionate about what you believe, and convince others if you can. Yet I find it deeply unsettling that people from both sides of the aisle are unwittingly
playing into the very ethos that we often criticize. We are bigoted against
bigots, vitriolic versus liberals, condescending towards conservatives, and all
the while the invisible reality is playing out before our eyes: by mocking
political candidates and their "ugly" supporters, we start to become
ugly ourselves.
By demonizing the Other, we fail to recognize
the hands "holding the cards"... real demonic influence in this
world. Full disclosure: while I don't believe there's a "devil behind
every tree", it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that evil in
the world is profoundly personal. There's a reason it feels sinister... behind personal evil there is a Personality
of evil. There really is a Devil. In the Bible, the name "Satan"
actually means accuser... his fundamental aim is to discredit and deceive. So
when we speak about others and their views, let's apply the Golden Rule. To do
anything else, I think, seems like hypocrisy.
For a Christian, people are NOT the ultimate
enemy. Ephesians 6:12 lays it out for us: "For we do not wrestle against
flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the
cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil
in the heavenly places."
Pray, instead, for your political alter egos,
that they may understand. And while we're at it, maybe we should pray for
wisdom and humility for ourselves... putting our trust in the God who is greater than the demonic chaos of hate and desperate diatribes against one another. He overcame it at the cross. His purpose will stand.
--Brian Huseland
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