It’s Elemental: Only Love Overcomes Hate
“Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
I watched in dismay the “brawl on the dock” in Montgomery and was reminded of the thin ice that polarization has put us on. The violent words we now casually use and the “othering” that is enhanced by increasing tribalization place us inches away from falling into the deep waters of physical violence.
I sympathize with the view that ideological perspective, party affiliation, and identity politics have largely replaced religion as our primary belief systems and in fact, are shaping our religious affiliations, with 25% of adults saying they’ve considered leaving their religion because of disagreements with their political affiliation.
On top of this, Bill Galston is quoted in the essay ‘Gut-Level Hatred’ Is Consuming Our Political Life” that “issues of individual and group identity — especially along the dimensions of race and gender — have moved to the center of our politics at every level of the federal system.” He concludes that “when the core political issues are matters of right and wrong rather than more and less, compromise becomes much more difficult, and disagreement becomes more intense. If I think we should spend X on farm programs and you think it should be 2X, neither of us thinks the other is immoral or evil. But if you think I’m murdering babies and I think you’re oppressing women, it’s hard for each of us not to characterize the other in morally negative terms.”
Bill McInfurff of Public Opinion Strategies observes in his report on polarization that roughly eight out of ten partisans believe the agenda of the other party poses a threat that, if not stopped, will destroy America as we know it. Some studies have shown an increase in support for the use of violence to achieve political ends.
If we view “the other” as our enemy but want to avoid falling through the ice into further violence, it begs the question, "can we learn to love our enemy?” I am not convinced that the corrective to radicalized polarization lies in the systems that have created it, but I am convinced that the most radical remedy is available to us already and has been for two thousand years.
A few weeks ago, we took two of our granddaughters to see the new Pixar film “Elemental,” which is, among other things, about “accepting differences and welcoming opposites.” In the film “Fire” elementals are segregated from the other elementals in the city, and are at particular odds with “Water” elementals. It is not until Ember (fire) and Wade (water) risk rejection from their respective tribes that the communities are able to see the potential for living together. “Love changes chemistries” is the key takeaway when they touch, literally risking their lives out of love but showing their world that only love can overcome hate.
Clapham’s sister production company, More Productions has signed on as an executive producer of a micro-budget film helmed by Erik Bork, an Emmy-award winning writer of the Band of Brothers series. The film Coming Together is “a light-hearted movie about a serious subject. What happens when a young single L.A. woman -- an avowed progressive -- discovers a new guy she meets in December 2020 happens to be a supporter of President Donald Trump? Is he someone she could actually date, regardless? And is she, for him?” (Feel free to join us in supporting the film’s final raise, which goes into production in September with only $14,000 needed to complete it.)
We need more stories, more models, of how we can “love our enemy” that capture the public imagination. But perhaps just as political identity has replaced religious identity, the long-term remedy to radicalized polarization is rediscovering one of the most radical teachings that any religion has to offer: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” (Luke 6:27-28)
In my tradition, God is love (1 John 4:16). Christians teach that Jesus embodied this through the cross, dying for us “while we were still his enemies.” (Romans 5:10) But whether you hold this belief or not, Jesus taught the radical notion of loving your enemy that is applicable to all of us. “Love your neighbor,” Jesus said, and was asked in response, “Who is my neighbor?” He replied with the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), an instructive word picture of loving your enemy (Jews and Samaritans “hated” one another).
Parable of the Good Samaritan. (2023, August 6). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_Good_Samaritan
This story is a challenge to us all. It is true that religion has been used to fuel hatred and violence, but the counter to this lies at the core of most religions, including Christianity: the Golden Rule, carried to the extreme. I’ve been challenged to name my “enemy” and choose to love him. For me, this starts with imagining how I want to be treated by those who might view me as their enemy and then praying for them.
Let me challenge you to do the same and thereby become a living “story” to people around you who will read and hopefully model your example. Starting with ourselves may be the only way we overcome hate as a society.
You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.”
Matthew 5:43-44