The Hatred Prison

 

Wednesday, March 10, 2021

For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you.  He is your example, and you must follow in his steps.  He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone.  He did not retaliate when he was insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered.  He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly.  1 Peter 2:21-23

This may be one of the easiest passages to understand in all of Scripture.  It is, arguably, also one of the most difficult to incorporate into our thoughts.  It is even harder to practice.  When you’ve been wronged, the human response is to, at least, defend…and, more likely, hit back!   Our recently retired president was hailed as the Counter-Puncher-in-Chief; he proudly lived-up to the reputation.  If he sensed a criticism from you, the response would be lethal.

The problem with revenge is the jail time to which it is connected.  Certainly, the kind of revenge that involves committing felonies might require time behind iron bars.  However, the jail time that is most damaging to the human spirit, and the possibilities of genuine community Christ offers, and promises, won’t be incarceration time spent in Attica, Sing Sing, or San Quentin.  The prison of revenge remediation is found within; it is hatred which binds us more strongly, and with greater destruction to the soul, than any cellblock. 

In a previous post (The All-Inclusive Temple of God) I mentioned “cancel culture” which, considering some of the responses to that post, begs a deeper look.  This phenomenon of a power-shift in 21^st century cultural norms is a belief system that holds previous norms are wrong and should be silenced, dismantled, and banned.  It is closely connected to the unique brand of reverse prejudice which creates a revenge cycle, which, in turn, leads to hatred prison just as dramatically as the souls of slave owners in Colonial America wound up confined there. 

Cancel culturalists will probably eat me alive for this thought train, but here goes.  The comparison I make is thus: 

·       In the annals of slavery and since the end of such bondage, the black person was viewed as “less”.  White supremacists, pushers of Arian dominance, claimed a superior position and held down their captives with a strong hand.  Hangover prejudices persist to this day

·       In the new norm of cancel culture, anyone (even remotely) connected to the wrong of the previous norm are immediately suspect (at mildest), or (at worst) held as culpable, first-degree racists.

So, just laying this argument on the low shelf, whites persecuted blacks, and now it is the black person’s time at bat.  Evidentiary of that is the hyper-radical anger that classifies any white person as racist, purely based on race.

I know…the irony screams so loud it’s impossible to laugh or cry…it’s just stunning, that it matters not what a black person said in 1830, he was black, and white America considered him part of nature’s mistake.  In 2021 the tsunami of “equality” overwhelms whatever remorse or compassion the white-skinned descendants of racists may have, and relegates them to racist by color. 

In proper perspective, most white people have never come close to the kind of personal, or group pain experienced by those who are black.  And there is nothing whites can do to atone for the sins of racism and oppression of the past, nor those who would hold on to it in the present, and promote it for the future.  Racism is indefensible and heinous.

But neither is there a commonsense argument for revenge’s retaliation.  Not only do two wrongs never make a right, the only genuine, workable commonsense argument is on the side of mental health.  The only healthy choice regarding racism is not fists in the air, anger, and getting even…it is forgiveness.  For those who care, it’s the only way to avoid spending time in The Hatred Prison.

For You Today

It’s time to join the Cancel Culture movement…let’s cancel racism from any perspective, and put the Hatred Prison behind bars.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title Image:  Courtesy of Pixabay.com    Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©