Hate Loses When It “Wins”

“We are going to win so much, you’ll get sick of winning” –Donald Trump

“An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind” — Gandhi

“A house divided against itself cannot stand” — Abraham Lincoln, paraphrasing  Jesus
I have to say that when Donald Trump talked about “winning”, I didn’t think he meant nuclear war, or war with Venezuela, or human beings defeating the environment, or an America where White would “win” over Black, where the Klan would surround a church with torches on the campus of The University of Virginia.

And yet, that is where are. Whether North Korea or Venezuela is “defeated”, whether the EPA “wins” for business, whether the Alt-right “wins” with it’s agenda remains to be seen, the problem begins with the whole premise that hate wins anything. If we have defeated North Korea but there’s a hole in our planet, what have we won? If businesses have no place to put their factories due to climate change, what have they won? If Klansmen re-fight the Civil War and destroy American Democracy in the process, what have they won? They win the right to fight among themselves in an ongoing battle of supremacy until only one person is left, and there’s no one left to celebrate with.

If love wins, if sharing wins, if kindness wins, we have a planet, an environment that thrives, and an America worth living in. We have seen both of these things in my lifetime, but the stark reality of the contrast was never so apparent as it is today. Ultimately, I believe that God’s love will win — in the truest sense of the word– whether the planet survives or not. I believe that death is never the final word.

But like all things, we should learn in small ways and correct our path when when we see where we are headed. We must stand firm against hate by practicing  love for each other. We must stand firm against radical exclusion by radical inclusion of all of God’s people. We must love humanity by caring for the environment. We must see each other as children of the living God, because that’s what we are. Hate attempts to deny this Truth by thinking it is an “alternative fact”.  God can win now, or God can win later. We, however, must choose now.

Resisting with Peace, 
John