Is there a lot of hate out there? Is it just me? I hope so. I’ve spent that last few minutes listening to a report about a shooting at the National Holocaust Museum, located in Washington D.C. The person who did this horrible act was full of hate. He is 88 years old and his hate has consumed him to the point where it has apparently made him insane enough to harm someone else, who only worked at the building.
During the report, there were officials answering questions from the media. Many of the questions were directed at why the man, who had a web site which advertised his hate, was not investigated and held accountable for his hate messages, before he became violent. The rather obvious answer was that it is not against the law in the United States to voice your opinion.
What disturbed me most was the flavor of the questions. It matched the flavor of the people I saw interviewed about this incident. Most wanted revenge for the innocent and explanations or reasons why something wasn’t done to people like this perpetrator, BEFORE they acted in such an irrational manner. The flavor of it all clearly, was more hate, more venom toward others who hate. Hate as a response to hate.
Is there enough hate in the world without the necessity of creating more hate to be levied against those who hate? When has more of the same wrong or evil been the answer to evil? Answer: never.
The Bible clearly tells us not to repay evil with evil, but to repay evil with good. I know that is hard for us, but if we repay evil with evil; we only increase the amount of evil. I’m not suggesting that we do nothing to oppose evil, only that vengeance is evil and therefore does not answer the problem with a solution, but rather answers the problem by creating another one. Soon, if vengeance is offered, it will offend someone else, because it is evil in nature for men to seek vengeance. “Vengeance is Mine. I will repay,” says the Lord. We are instructed to find a way to respond to evil in such a way as to offer goodness. In other words, when we repay evil with good, we instantly add goodness to the situation, and the world. We have decreased the evil in the world by the amount we would have added and increased the goodness, which counteracts evil. We also have taken away the ability for anyone to react to the evil we might have done with yet more evil. We, of course, cannot guarantee that no more evil will be done, but if it is, then it creates another opportunity for us to add more goodness into the world. Let’s create more goodness as a response to hate, so we can feel the love. Blessings!

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