Love One Another
I posted the following on my personal Facebook page after our visit to the Holocaust Museum. When I wrote it, I knew it wasn’t thought out well enough for a blog post, but at the same time I needed to write what I was thinking and feeling as it was such an emotional experience. Here is the original post with additional thoughts added after it:
Today, my kids and I visited the Holocaust Museum. To say it was emotional would be an understatement. As I listened to the timeline of events of the Holocaust and to the recorded stories of the survivors, one thought kept echoing in my head – they were dehumanized for the mere fact that they were Jewish.
When we think we are better than one group of people, we have dehumanized them. When we call for violence against another group of people, we have dehumanized them. When we hate another group of people because they have a different opinion, we have dehumanized them.
Violence towards any group of people is unacceptable. When our elected officials and other politicians from both sides of the aisle call for violence or uncivil treatment against other people just because they vote differently, it’s not just harmless, political rhetoric, it is tainted with hate. It also sounds eerily similar to the way the Germans thought leading up to the Holocaust.
We can counteract this by remembering the commandments Jesus gave us: Love God, love your neighbor, love your enemy. It’s that simple. When we remember that we are ALL made in God’s image and that Jesus died for ALL of us, then we can’t help but love others as Jesus loved us.
I knew this museum visit would be an emotional one considering the topic. Numerous times throughout the exhibit, tears filled my eyes as I viewed photographs of skin-and-bone bodies piled on top of each other, discarded as if they were trash. More photos of emaciated men and women so undernourished their clothes hung off their bodies and their sunken eyes stared hauntingly back at the observer. Stories of the evil inflicted on the Jewish people angered me. I could not, and still can not, fathom how people could treat others the way the Nazis treated the Jews.
As I mentioned in my Facebook post, violence toward any group of people is unacceptable. I am shocked and saddened to hear the political discourse thrown around lately. Politicians (on both sides) are inciting others to violence against those who think differently than they do. Who are they to set the standard? When they encourage others to be uncivil towards those who think differently, what they are really doing is dehumanizing that group. They are saying “Their thoughts and opinions have no value, therefore, they have no value.” Though they brush off their hate-filled rhetoric as “just playing to the crowd,” or “simply jesting,” they are slowly chipping away at the humanity of their opponent.
So, what are we to do? I believe the Holocaust is an example of what happens when very little is done to confront the hate. We must remember we are all made in the image of God (see Genesis 1:27). When we project hate towards a person or group of people, we are projecting hate towards God. We must also follow the commandments of Jesus. Please note the use of the word “commandment.” It’s not a suggestion, but a command to love the Lord our God with every bit of who we are (Deuteronomy 6:5; Matthew 22:37). We are also commanded to love our neighbors (Matthew 22:39) and one another (John 15:12, 17). Last, but definitely not least, we are commanded to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44). We show love by standing up against the hate. We show love by respecting other’s opinions, even if they differ greatly from our own. Finally, we show love by treating others the way Jesus treated others. Remember, Jesus died for us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8), which means we, too, were at enmity with God.
Note: I wrote this post Thursday, two days before the horrific attack at the Synagogue in Pennsylvania. Now, more than ever, we need to show love. It is time for us to be the light.
