Please do share a recent high-profile polarising figure from the left who was killed/murdered, whom well-known and ordinary people then celebrated their demise. I could not find one. It would be interesting to compare for sure.
Of all the good things you said Jason, this is my favorite.
“A self founded upon achievement, public recognition or ideological conformity will struggle to love an enemy because an enemy threatens the conditions upon which that self depends. A self received in Christ can desire the good of an enemy because the enemy has no power to revoke what God has given.”
Jesus commanded us to love and pray for our enemies, but he never required us to have any. I only have friends and potential friends - I don’t consider anyone an enemy.
Many people consider me an enemy: I am gay, progressive politically, Jewish mother (so, I am considered Jewish by antisemitic people due to matrilineal descent - would have been considered a second degree Mischling by the Nazis). In the United States, immigrants and their children are considered “vermin” by the president (I had an immigrant parent). I am definitely afraid of some people and wary of others. But I refuse to be at enmity with anyone, or in a state of constant anger or hostility with anyone or any group. I had Jewish relatives who died in the Lodz Ghetto and Auschwitz. My grandfather was one of eight, Old Catholic priests sent from the Netherlands to Dachau (he survived). Two gay friends were murdered in hate crimes. On the American side of my family, my great uncle was a bishop who was badly hurt when he was forced from his diocese for his pacifist position during the Great War. He kept the hate mail he received, but he didn’t lash back at anyone. So, I learned powerful lessons from my family history and tragic events. But anyone’s enmity with me is a one-way street. I don’t have to reciprocate. I had several « conversion experiences » when I was a younger adult (as a civilian and in the military): life experiences and encounters where I realized my common humanity with people most different from me. I do get angry with people, but I don’t feel like I am at war with anyone, or in a state of perpetual enmity with anyone. I am not perfect or a moral exemplar. Jesus prayed for the people torturing him to death. So, I can deal with insults and malice. In the military, I saw genocide and ethnic cleansing in Bosnia and Rwanda. I saw devastating poverty in Haiti. I can’t discard or write off another human being - someone created in God’s image and likeness (even if they behave badly). Of course, when we love others we can show love by holding them accountable. But when you consider someone an enemy (there’s a finality to that) you dehumanize them and that can make atrocities and violence a possibility - I have seen that firsthand. In the Gospels, Jesus was « moved with compassion » ἐσπλαγχνίσθη - that’s really the best spiritual posture. In the Diary of Anne Frank, she wrote that in spite of everything, she still believed people were good at heart. We’re all a mixture of good and bad at times. So when dealing with a difficult person you have to see some good in them at work with that.
Thank you for sharing this. What you describe is deeply moving: not denying fear, anger or the need for accountability, but refusing to let another person’s enmity determine your own soul. That line—“their enmity with me is a one-way street”—captures something profoundly Christlike. Compassion does not mean naivety or passivity; it means refusing to surrender another person’s humanity, or your own.
Profound. In my own search for the reality of my identity. I return again and again to Jesus’ baptism…the Father’s beloved Son…and there I find myself…and let out a huge exhale of relief and rest.
Thank you for this. An example of a polarising figure from the left would make this excellent piece even stronger.
Please do share a recent high-profile polarising figure from the left who was killed/murdered, whom well-known and ordinary people then celebrated their demise. I could not find one. It would be interesting to compare for sure.
Of all the good things you said Jason, this is my favorite.
“A self founded upon achievement, public recognition or ideological conformity will struggle to love an enemy because an enemy threatens the conditions upon which that self depends. A self received in Christ can desire the good of an enemy because the enemy has no power to revoke what God has given.”
Thanks Jules and for sharing with others, Jason
Jesus commanded us to love and pray for our enemies, but he never required us to have any. I only have friends and potential friends - I don’t consider anyone an enemy.
Wonderful. And what about those who might consider you an enemy due to your beliefs, practices, or life?
Many people consider me an enemy: I am gay, progressive politically, Jewish mother (so, I am considered Jewish by antisemitic people due to matrilineal descent - would have been considered a second degree Mischling by the Nazis). In the United States, immigrants and their children are considered “vermin” by the president (I had an immigrant parent). I am definitely afraid of some people and wary of others. But I refuse to be at enmity with anyone, or in a state of constant anger or hostility with anyone or any group. I had Jewish relatives who died in the Lodz Ghetto and Auschwitz. My grandfather was one of eight, Old Catholic priests sent from the Netherlands to Dachau (he survived). Two gay friends were murdered in hate crimes. On the American side of my family, my great uncle was a bishop who was badly hurt when he was forced from his diocese for his pacifist position during the Great War. He kept the hate mail he received, but he didn’t lash back at anyone. So, I learned powerful lessons from my family history and tragic events. But anyone’s enmity with me is a one-way street. I don’t have to reciprocate. I had several « conversion experiences » when I was a younger adult (as a civilian and in the military): life experiences and encounters where I realized my common humanity with people most different from me. I do get angry with people, but I don’t feel like I am at war with anyone, or in a state of perpetual enmity with anyone. I am not perfect or a moral exemplar. Jesus prayed for the people torturing him to death. So, I can deal with insults and malice. In the military, I saw genocide and ethnic cleansing in Bosnia and Rwanda. I saw devastating poverty in Haiti. I can’t discard or write off another human being - someone created in God’s image and likeness (even if they behave badly). Of course, when we love others we can show love by holding them accountable. But when you consider someone an enemy (there’s a finality to that) you dehumanize them and that can make atrocities and violence a possibility - I have seen that firsthand. In the Gospels, Jesus was « moved with compassion » ἐσπλαγχνίσθη - that’s really the best spiritual posture. In the Diary of Anne Frank, she wrote that in spite of everything, she still believed people were good at heart. We’re all a mixture of good and bad at times. So when dealing with a difficult person you have to see some good in them at work with that.
Thank you for sharing this. What you describe is deeply moving: not denying fear, anger or the need for accountability, but refusing to let another person’s enmity determine your own soul. That line—“their enmity with me is a one-way street”—captures something profoundly Christlike. Compassion does not mean naivety or passivity; it means refusing to surrender another person’s humanity, or your own.
So good 👍🏻
thank you
Brilliant, Jase.
Thanks, Mike, for sharing on your FB!
Profound. In my own search for the reality of my identity. I return again and again to Jesus’ baptism…the Father’s beloved Son…and there I find myself…and let out a huge exhale of relief and rest.
Wonderful place you find yourself, may you find it more and more