Hate That Only Loves Itself

This blog will not be used to spread hate, dissidence or any other dogma antithetical to a healthy society, community and church.

I thought that I should make that message clear based on information that I recently received. We do not agree with ongoing antagonistic efforts against any individual or person. We challenge, debate and speak of societal issues strongly. We gladly point out problematic doctrine and identify personalities and practices that take advantage of people, society and do the church harm. We continue to identify dogmas and teachings both secular and religious which we feel are detrimental to the growth and the long term sustainability of our families, churches and community, but we decry all forms of hate speech, methodology and public or private violence and dissidence. 

Secular/Religious Ideals & Politics

The Dunamis Word gladly points out political policies which we feel are damaging on any number of levels, but once a case is made, we do not and will not continue to revisit the issues and will not attack personalities in an undue fashion. We do not promote anarchy whether that is public or in the church. Leadership is essential to any community and our purpose is to present ideas that will not only challenge leadership, but also make leaders accountable and ultimately make communities better. We will not be a part of unfounded personal rhetoric or attacks beyond the issues at hand and demand that accusations be accurate, pertinent to the subject and rooted by certain supports such as reasonable logic, or physical proofs.

Our Presidency

Since the election and installation of President Obama there has been an upturn of what is described as religious and political conservatism. This type of conservatism is nothing new, but it has taken a serious turn and become more radical akin to some brands of religious extremism. Recently we received information that was no shorter than hate speech filled with physical threats toward many of our governmental and political leaders. We notified authorities immediately and have placed such information in the proper hands. We decry the proliferation of such sentiments even if they are based on religious dogma and more specifically Christian dogmas or biblical scriptures. The message is clear, neither this blog, nor this author lends his time to destroying our country by wishing evil on it's political and secular leadership. With that said, there are a few things that I would like to address as I have observed what seems to be a circus of activity since the country elected it's first Black President.

Faulty Assumptions:

I: The Myth Of A Christian Nation

The problem is that many religious political conservatives mistakenly assume that America is or was a Christian nation. While there is a ring of truth to that statement we should know that there is not neither has there ever been a Christian nation. A truly Christian nation would never have built itself on the backs of slaves, broken land trusts and undermined hopes. That same Christian nation would not have driven Geronimo's and Cochise's children into Mexico and Canada and then create laws to keep them out when they wish to come back home.

Click HERE for Gregory A. Boyd's book.

Another assumption often levied by the religious conservative extremists is that God's economic system is capitalism, that President Obama is anti-capitalism and, in essence, anti-American and ultimately the anti-Christ. I don't believe that any of these assertions hold true.  Once again, while I may not agree with many of the President's moves such as appointments of certain quasi-socialist and apparently even Marxist liberals to top US positions, and negative statements made regarding capitalistic endeavors; yet God does not endorse a particular political or economic system over another. In fact, under the biblical rubric, not only were the strong to serve the weak as a service to God and an indicator of their relationship to him, but the New Testament church also lived out of the means of the entire community rather than by individualistic endeavors or pursuits. The first church community was really a "community".The bible describes how the first church survived economically and socially: 

Acts 2:42-47 ~ "42-And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43-And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. 44-And all that believed were together, and had all things common; 45-And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all [men], as every man had need. 46-And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, 47-Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved."

Actions of the first church were based on the cultural style that existed at the time, but fact is that the New Testament church did not resemble a capitalistic republic or democracy. Neither were the church leaders close to endorsing what we view as a capitalistic structure, socially and or politically.

Extremism & Pundit Mania

III: If We Talk Loud Enough & Say It Over And Over We'll Make Things Change

First, President Obama is not a spiritual leader. He does not require worship, although many are ready to give it. He is a secular leader and many of us are Christian individuals. Our demand cannot be that he obey Christian rules and dogma, but on the other hand we must not fail to advise him in the biblical capacity and wisdom which we have been given by Christ through scripture. We must not fail to challenge political leadership with biblical proofs and speak to power. However, truly Christian efforts need not be to the extent of extremism, and ultimately dogmatic personal attacks.

Conservatives such as Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh have exploited a political and religious conservative gap going overtime to the extreme in their efforts to "reveal" to the American public that the current Presidential policies are harmful to American sovereignty and dangerous to the moral underpinnings of American values. These gentlemen spend over 12 hours of programming per day presenting information as if the ceiling will fall in tomorrow if something is not done today, and if Presidential actions are not wrung in. They use protections of the First Amendment, which we are certainly glad that are there to shield us, but their voices have promoted some who hold extremist ideals and ideologies. American grown terrorist groups, calling themselves militias, have risen and joined the chorus of voices willing to blame the government, and the President personally as the source of America's problems. Too many of these individuals hold bibles under their arms and quote biblical verses as they wish hate and destruction upon political leaders for not carrying out or observing their wishes.  This is insanity. 

The Truth...We Can Disagree Without Inciting Violence, Violent Feelings Or Emotions  

Disagreements are sometimes essential for a truly healthy society. I'm sure some disagree with many of my assertions in this post. However, there is a difference between disagreement and the inciting of radical and negative feelings and emotion. We can encourage individuals to live out their political goals at the polls without being antagonistic or inciting anarchy. Once can read this blog and readily find that I disagree with President Obama over his public actions regarding:

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  Abortion,
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  Certain portions of the health care law,
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  Employment regulations directed through the Office Of Faith Based & Neighborhood Partnerships.  
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  His interpretation and proliferation of biblical scriptures
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  His nominees for the US Supreme Ct. (new-and yes I do)
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  His apologetic stance toward rogue and terrorist nations,
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  His stance on homosexual marriage and other issues,
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  The national direction within public education, etc

However, we do not seek to perpetuate an antagonistic environment beyond the issues or facilitate an environment that is contrary to the safety of President Obama or his family. Many of us disagreed with former President Bush. (who was not the choice of the people) Thousands have died because of his decisions and America is no more safe now, than when the invasion of Iraq began, but by scale, we do not call for Bush's destruction. We certainly don't do it for over 12 hours per day.  Disagreement with political policy must be balanced with temperament and must be objective.

Complaining for the sake of complaint itself is more akin to sensationalism and should not be a desired practice for individuals seeking to make a difference. Recently, Minister Louis Farrakhan appeared on Chicago talk radio's WVON (Cliff Kelley Show) pleading against the actions of extremists as it pertains to the physical safety of the President Obama. In one segment, he pleaded on behalf of the President's children that extremists would consider the unnecessary damage that would not only be done to the nation, but also to the President's children if they were to loose their father at the hands of hatred.  

Contrast Historic Racial & Group Oppression

There has not been one religious conservative candidate nor official with whom there has not been disagreement displayed by large segments of society. For instance, in the Black community we were aware from its inception that the "war on drugs" under President Ronald Reagan's tenure (who is hailed by the religious conservative extremist to be the greatest President of all time) was nothing more than code words for "war on Black America" and "Black neighborhoods". It has proven to be just that leading to the highest rates of criminal incarceration among among any ethnic group within the United States. Currently, slightly over 10% of all African American men between the ages of 24-29 are in prison or accountable to the penile system in some form. In some states such as New Mexico, these rates reach as high as 30%. What is notable is that these are the ages when men should be men raising their children and preparing the next generation...but too many of them are in prison. According to the Justice Policy Institute: 

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  3,161 African-Americans per 100,000 were under the custody or care of federal or state penile system, this compares to 1,200 per 100,000 Hispanics and 487 per 100,000 whites. This means that black men in the United States are 6.5 times more likely to be in prison than white men and that Hispanics are 2.5 times more likely to be in prison than white men.

The religious conservative extremist balks, "that's their problem, they shouldn't have been breaking the law!" While it is true that many of these men were breaking the law, a good percentage of them were doing more harm to themselves than harm to others. An alarming percentage of Black men are and were incarcerated for drug usage as opposed to drug sales or violent behavior. The statistics were clear on this before the laws were established, but that didn't matter to the powers that usurped their authority. Blacks were made slowly aware that federally mandated minimum sentencing would land then in jail for longer periods of time, and that many of them would never be able to take part in raising their families simply because they used drugs themselves. Why? The law placed a greater value on the criminal activities that Blacks engaged in more heavily that the alternate criminal activities of Whites. There was a specific difference in the sentencing of Blacks who used crack cocaine and whites who traditionally used powered cocaine. We know that it is tragic that the Black male prison population exceeds that of the Black college student population. Do we hear any of the radical religious conservative political extremists taking the lead to reverse this inequity? No! Are we to radically and emotionally charge individuals to take action and liberate themselves in an anarchist fashion? 

ABSOLUTELY NOT!

We teach how Black men can avoid these pitfalls and how the general public can make the system better by becoming better informed. We do not blame the educational system, the business community, the courts, judges, nor the legislators even if some are more to blame than others. The blame is equally spread. Those who thought of the disparity, and facilitated it are as much to blame as those who promoted it and those who allowed it and those who were caught in it.   

Conclusion:

Disagreement with Presidential policy should not cross personal lines and boundaries. God does not favor Obama any less than he favored Bush, Regan, Nixon or anyone else. Sentiments for the destruction of individuals, including their office and person is not only deplorable, but it is despicable. As stated, for years Blacks and Native Americans in America suffered injustice at the hands of a racially charged establishment, but TRUE Freedom Fighters fought out of respect, honor and reverence for the sanctity of human life even if the abusers of freedom had alternate sentiments. 

In this country, we have many problems. More problems than we can adequately address or attempt to solve in the blogosphere, however, none of those problems cause us to dissent from this great nation.  We can disagree and we will disagree, but we can also direct our disagreement toward the issues and not the individual. None of the disagreements should cause us to wish evil or ill upon any governmental, political and or church official. It is in that spirit of true Christianity that we should engage the issues and be encouraged to pursue life.

Blessed!