Sunday, September 12, 2010
I was surprised when I got home from church to discover that a member of the Orange Order thinks I should be arrested for what i wrote yesterday.
I'm sorry he found it so hateful and threatening. It's not one of my best entries, it has to be said, but I don't think it's so bad as to be a criminal offence.
I didn't want to promote hatred against his order; it seemed worth reflecting on the hatred and fear its music inspires in me.
And put that in context of the wider currents of hatred swirling round the world just now: hatred for Muslims in Christian countries. Hatred for Christians in Muslim countries.
Hatred deliberately fomented by unscrupulous politicians. The "Tea Party" movement in the States. Sarkozy inciting hatred against the Roman in France. The British Chancellor of the Exchequer inciting hatred against those on benefits.
Hatred against the Pope.
The hatred the Pope and his church incites against the likes of me.
The deepest traditions of every religion agree that hate is not conquered by hate. Hatred is only conquered by love.
To love your enemies? Love those who hate you?
When I was a boy, this was one of the passages my Christian teachers would kind of skate over, as being "too difficult".
The other one they tended to skate over was the one that condemned the pursuit of wealth and riches.
But its maybe these that are the most important things he had to say to us.
If we can somehow find a way to hear them.
I'm sorry he found it so hateful and threatening. It's not one of my best entries, it has to be said, but I don't think it's so bad as to be a criminal offence.
I didn't want to promote hatred against his order; it seemed worth reflecting on the hatred and fear its music inspires in me.
And put that in context of the wider currents of hatred swirling round the world just now: hatred for Muslims in Christian countries. Hatred for Christians in Muslim countries.
Hatred deliberately fomented by unscrupulous politicians. The "Tea Party" movement in the States. Sarkozy inciting hatred against the Roman in France. The British Chancellor of the Exchequer inciting hatred against those on benefits.
Hatred against the Pope.
The hatred the Pope and his church incites against the likes of me.
The deepest traditions of every religion agree that hate is not conquered by hate. Hatred is only conquered by love.
To love your enemies? Love those who hate you?
When I was a boy, this was one of the passages my Christian teachers would kind of skate over, as being "too difficult".
The other one they tended to skate over was the one that condemned the pursuit of wealth and riches.
But its maybe these that are the most important things he had to say to us.
If we can somehow find a way to hear them.
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