During the closing days of October, we all were horrifically reminded of the very real presence of evil in our country as we learned of the slaughter of eleven people in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania’s Tree of Life Synagogue, and the vicious murder of two African Americans in
a Kroger store in Jefferson town, Kentucky by a man who with murderous intent had previously attempted to gain access to a Black Church. The common thread that binds these
ghastly crimes together is that of hate. One gunman hated Jewish people and the other
despised Black people. To be sure, murder is not the only sign of hate. Words privately
and increasingly publicly spoken to scapegoat, stereotype, and invoke suspicion and fear
are also signs of hate. At this moment in the life of our nation, people of goodwill and particularly Christians must honestly make known the kind of future to which they are com-mitted to build. If we truly desire a future of common progress, civility, peace and justice,
we must now accept our collective responsibility to live lives that are pro-love and anti-hate; pro-peace and anti-violence. Our commitment to love and peace must not be limited to our own families and networks. We must be willing to speak publicly words that repudiate hate and reject violence. We must not tolerate schemes designed make us fear and dislike each other. We must not let differences become rationale for holding con-tempt for our neighbors. We in the Christian community owe it to God and our neighbors to project God’s vision of love overcoming hate. Such ministry is the only way for Christians and the church to gain and retain theological, spiritual and social credibility in an age of hate and violence. In this season, let us be labelled not by political party but by the gospel of Jesus Christ
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