How did this happen? It would appear to be the polar opposite of its original intent. Even the prefix pro- implies to be in favor of. Some online sources say that the change occurred around the mid 1750s. But Martin Luther and others launched the protestant reformation in 1517. He was definitely protesting the Catholic Church in the way we currently define the word. Did they themselves refer to what they were doing as protesting, or did that come later? At what point in history did the word change from declaring something positive to resisting something negative?
Mother Teresa is famously quoted as saying that she would never attend an anti-war demonstration, but would accept an invitation to a pro-peace rally anyday. On the surface they appear to want the same thing. But they aren’t asking for the same thing. One is a declaration in favor of peace and frames its desires along those lines. The other is an unwitting cosmic request to perpetuate the systems that need more war to exist. It appears Teresa understood the true origins of the word protest, but more likely she religiously understood what Star Trek fans also know: resistance is futile.
As hard as it is to accept, to change something you must put it on your lap and love it right where it is. Love is what transforms, not hate. Not resistance. It seems I’m inviting white supremacists and tyrannical dictators for a good, long hug. Not exactly, but close. We need to rewire our thinking regarding the transformation of our world into the state of peace we expect from it. Excluding people and silencing voices—especially the ones we don’t like hearing—is the reason we are here in this uncomfortable, even painful, moment of history. We have resisted people along with their ideas and have painted ourselves into a corner with flawed methodology.
Of course our culture is built on a history of resistance. We have succeeded to a degree in displacing old ways by so-called protesting them. We have thrown tea into Boston Harbor and we have painted signs upon signs blaring our resistance. But our relative success has been in spite of our methods, not because of them. How much more peace is available to us if we could only recalibrate our thinking?
There is a church group I shall not name which publicly demonstrates nationwide God’s so-called hate. The communities in which they demonstrate react in a variety of ways. Sometimes with violence. But sometimes they do what world scripture actually teaches, they love their enemy. They surround hate with love. Literally. Protesters—in the original sense of the word—publicly declare their love and project it toward those who fester in hate by encircling the church group with signs and flags and songs of praise and love. They pray for those who are blinded by their fear of others and who twist scripture to justify their acts of hate. They love them right where they are.
Does this work? Maybe. Probably. But surely it prevents hate from expanding on that particular streetcorner any further. And for those who pro-actively test-ify in this way, how might they feel at the end of a pro-test such as this? Are their spirits lifted or are they bandaging their wounds? Because we all, those who love and those who hate, testify as an act of personal salvation always. We speak to save ourselves, to unburden ourselves, to be heard. This need is universal, remember that. But which thinking brings more love into the world?
We must listen honestly to those we would rather silence. They are always telling us a truth of some kind. The hateful few of our age are angry and afraid because they have been silenced. Their education has been cut, their jobs have disappeared, their healthcare has been used as a political pawn. And they have been manipulated by their own history. How else are they expected to react? What other tools do they have but their hate? Pray for them. But more importantly talk to one. Listen to one. You don’t have to validate their positions to validate their humanity. Listen to them. Not because they are correct in their hate, but because hate is only a symptom of deeper wounds. Read between the lines. Heal them where they are.
Send love to those who hate you. They just might get it.
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