How to beat the onslaught of hate
“I can be someone else’s and still my own.” — Shel Silverstein
When right wing cable networks and right wing internet silos relentlessly send a barrage of hate and misinformation to their followers’ eyeballs it is not enough to speak the truth once and let it be. It must be repeated and reinforced with the same ferocity or it will die on the vine. A large part of that is in understanding what exactly is being sold.
The concept of being someone else’s missing piece seems so foreign to us. The idea that we could be there to support someone else seems like crazy talk. The idea that we can keep our individuality while also living as a part of the collective is antithetical to anything we have heard before. That is exactly what they are working against. They have us believing that words like “collective” are communist. They are steadily working towards a world where anything involving “we”, “us”, or “the group” is also communist. That is why it sounds so foreign.
This past Sunday was the last Sunday of the liturgical year. It was the story of Jesus separating the sheep and goats. The sheep fed him, gave him drink, clothed him, comforted him, and visited him when they visited the least of these. The goats did not. The challenge is realizing that the biggest enemy to Christianity does not come from outside Christianity. It doesn’t come from Muslims, Buddhists, or Hindus. It doesn’t come from secular humanists, atheists, or agnostics. It comes from people that call themselves Christians, but have lost the script.
Those same people that call themselves Christians would take a message like that of the Missing Piece and call it communist. The idea of helping another is foreign. They need to pick themselves from their bootstraps. They can’t be be given anything. They need to earn it. I would simply like to introduce those folks to a person that called himself Jesus. He fed the hungry. He healed the sick. He brought hope to the hopeless. He didn’t ask for their insurance card. He didn’t ask for identification or papers. He didn’t check for attendance at the synagogue. He just gave of himself.
I know this seems like a radical concept, but the antidote for hate isn’t hate. It is love. It is relentless love because that hate can seem relentless. It is sustained and repeated love. It is unequivocal and it is undying love. It is unqualified. The forces of evil want you to think you are alone. They want you to distrust the institutions we used to rely on. They want you to think your neighbors are out to get you. They want you to arm yourself to the teeth and shoot first. They don’t want you to even ask questions later. They tell us that the world hates you. They say that the world wants to take what is yours and the only thing that can stop it is you and your hate.
You don’t combat that by hating that messenger. You don’t combat that by simply saying once that this is wrong. You defeat it by repeating it every chance you get. You defeat it by pouring water on that out of control brushfire. That fire is hate. The water is love. Love means that we have to give of ourselves. It means it will come back to us. We have to believe that. We have to know that. We have to share that with the world.
So there’s a quote that hit home with me in an Advent book I read earlier this year by Walter Brueggemann
“Empire [meaning any reigning political power], in its refusal of the things that make for peace, generates a society of hostility, aggression, greed, conflict, and violence.”
I think that rather captures the current geo-political climate around the world.
1You’re partly wrong, many of those would-be Christians didn’t lose the script, they tossed it in the trash, deliberately.
Also, (language police alert) it’s antidote not anecdote. Sorry
2Always appreciate your commentary in these troubled times. Your missive today reminds of one of my favorite movies from my early teenage age years. “Pollyanna” (I was so in love with Haley Mills!) was the picture of innocence and unconditional love. Karl Mauldin played the quintessential angry minster, railing against the sins and tribulations of society. When asked why he was always so angry, he had no answer, resulting in him consulting the Bible and finding over 800 references to love. He shifted his demeanor and concentrated on the goodness that was the central theme of Jesus’ teaching. Simplistic, of course, and, sadly, I do not see a modern day Pollyanna on the horizon. I have witnessed many positive changes in my seventy-seven years. Never anticipated the current state of society. But, I live in the naive assumption that more will be Woke (isn’t the opposite of Woke asleep?) where goodness and fair play will prevail.
3Thanks Bob, it has been fixed.
4Nick wrote: “…They want you to distrust the institutions we used to rely on.
**They want you to think your neighbors are out to get you. They want you to arm yourself to the teeth and shoot first.**
They don’t want you to even ask questions later. …”
I’m sorry Nick, but ~35-40% of the population of the USA has devolved into a regenerated Nazi horde that is slavering to slam any of us who won’t support their Führer and their infused ideology into concentration and death camps as quickly as they possibly can. They know enough to stay fairly quiet about it in public.
You are in for a very rude, and quite short, awakening, if the neo-Nazis and TrümpenFührer regain power in 2024.
Unless… you are fully prepared to resist them in every way possible. And that means nothing less than a battle to the death.
And “hate” is about the only emotion strong enough to sustain such a struggle. There will be no room for your soft ‘peace and love’ until the war is over [presuming we win…]. [Sorry, I get what you mean, but such things must be put aside for a while]
They are preparing for it. I suggest that you and the rest of us do the same. Everything you hold dear, now and for generations, is going to depend upon it. You must be ready to win Civil War II, or suffer the consequences.
Remember that Hitler and his Nazis were finally destroyed from withOUT, not from within.
The Germans mostly supported their leadership until the imposed costs became unbearable.
Do you think that there will be such an external power to crush a Republican Trump empire?
No, there is no conceivable external power, or powers, able to defeat an utterly evil American hegemony such as a nominal Trumpire would present to the world [even if he’s just a puppet].
For proof read this Thom Hartmann article, he ‘gets it’!
He outlines almost every exacting parallel between Hitler’s ultimate rise to power, and that of Trump. It is chilling to see it all, how similar they are. And how well prepared they are becoming, win or lose a mere election.. A long, detailed article, by a very perceptive and astute guy who has been in the trenches a long time, please read it.:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/11/17/2206427/-Now-We-Know-How-Hitler-Did-It
https://images.dailykos.com/images/1250532/story_image/2016-02-27-1456595899-9124929-TrumpHitler-2370476481.jpg
5How Hitler and the Nazis got the German people to that point is the key. Once fascism wins then we fight or we flee. Those are the two options. I suppose what I’m talking about is the messaging before that moment finally comes to fruition. That’s how we beat it at the polls. If you don’t beat them at the polls then you take the last train before they come to town.
6‘Time to Solve Our Propaganda Problems as the Military Do during War’
“In response to civilian propaganda, we should spread the truth at scale — at the same scale and to the same audience that is being targeted with the lies.
That means we need truth-spreading radio, TV, newspapers, news web sites and social media “troll farms.” The truth needs to be expertly aimed at the same audience that consume Right Wing disinformation on TV, radio, newspapers, news sites and social media right now. How would that be financed? Nonprofit organizations could fund them.”
7https://upine.medium.com/time-to-solve-our-propaganda-problems-like-the-military-does-e97eda71ba7b
Sandridge @ 5 Thanks for link!
The way to win over Hate (and to live the best in life IMO) is thru Love, Forgiveness, Acceptance, Right Human Relations and Education. Public Education is essential for many reasons, one being all inclusive.
On a side note …
8“This is a portion of the testimony of Amanda Tyler, executive director of BJC and lead organizer of Christians Against Christian Nationalism, before Congress on October 25, 2023.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDK9ZRJGLj0
I’m with you all the way, Nick. One other problem I see is the group of Christians who, while not spreading hate, see their mission as converting everyone to their own view of Christianity. I have them come up to me and say “Have you been saved?”, and I tell them that I don’t worry about that; I’m more worried about whether or not I’m following the two Great Commandments. It is more important to me to make sure I “love my neighbor as myself” than it is to worry about whether or not I will go to heaven. The latter is pure selfishness.
9Jesus said to a rich young man:
“If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Matthew 19:21)
He didn’t say to give to a political campaign.
He didn’t say to give to a church.
He said to give to the poor.
10“ right wing internet silos relentlessly send a barrage of hate and misinformation to their followers’ eyeballs”
Case in point was the Canadian-US border car crash the other day. While real news stations reported the incident with the known facts, Fox immediately claimed they had reliable information that it was a terrorist attack. This false reporting went on for hours, repeated and embellished on social networks. They tied in their favorite talking points – – the borders aren’t safe, they’re porous, criminals are pouring in from all sides.
Then when it turned out the “criminal terrorist refugee” drove a $300,000 Bentley, and was not invading America but driving north into Canada, Fox quietly mumbled that unnamed government sources had given them the wrong information. Their viewers were happy though, they got to be outraged, blood boiling, adrenaline pumping for a few hours, and in the end big government was to blame.
11Recently an evangelical minister wrote about telling his right-wing parish that Jesus said to love your enemy, and they rejected that as “weak”. He should point out to them that it’s actually far more difficult to do than to strike back and despise your enemy.
Me, I’m not Christian. So yup, I genuinely hate slimeballs like Stephen Miller. But at least I recognize that loving him would take immense amounts of will and reserve, far more than I have. I recognize that and admire and respect anyone who is capable of it.
Now if you’ll excuse me the old picture of Miller on my dartboard is falling apart and I need to put up a new one.
12Dr. Surly: I think I remember a Doonsbury cartoon where the Preacher read The Sermon on the Mountain about charity and after the service was accused of being a Socialist by a church member.
13Nick @6 wrote, “Once fascism wins then we fight or we flee. … If you don’t beat them at the polls then you take the last train before they come to town. “.
To have any chance of survival you MUST first be prepared to “fight”; before anything happens.
And any idea of ‘fleeing’ is pointless. They, the —enemy—, will have, are already prepared to cut off your avenues of escape.
There will be no trains waiting to carry you away.
Unless you count gondolas full of lib corpses…
Hate to be so ominous and pessimistic, but I merely write about what I read and see [some closehand here in S Texass]. Perhaps some of the RWNJ stuff is overblown, but the immense danger is still growing.
And it has happened before, as Thom Hartmann’s article so skillfully explains.
Surely y’all can see it too, it’s out in the open now, and such rhetoric is unprecedented in our nation’s history. There’s no point in debating how much is due to tRump or whatever. It’s all out and the Rethug mobs looove it.
Better to be well prepared and relax should it blow over, than face annihilation if you aren’t.
14Sandridge,
I can’t remember which TV commentator was talking about this but there is a reason why they called it the “final solution.” The others didn’t work or didn’t work fast enough. The Germans wanted a mass expulsion before they wanted the death camps. They simply hoped all the undesirables would leave.
In one of our less proud moments, we turned away a vessel carrying Jewish citizens from Germany trying to flee. Similar things were happening in the surrounding nations around Europe. I suppose one could argue that no one is equipped to handle a mass exodus of a country. We are seeing the same now in neighboring countries around Palestine. It sounds horrible to say until you find yourself in a situation of seeing millions looking for a new home. You have to cut it off at some point.
I think most rabid conservatives would not only allow us to leave but would hold the door open for us. They did in Germany at the beginning. That was their initial solution according to the commentator (MSNBC I believe). If you read the Heritage Foundation Project 2025 you’ll see that right in the literature. The idea for these camps is to provide an efficient way to ship people out of the country.
I have no doubt that a similar thing would happen eventually. Countries like Canada, Mexico, and those in western Europe would eventually beg off and not allow any more refugees. That’s when the darker stuff would start happening. However, if we are lucky and see the signs early on then we could be some of the ones that get out. Maybe then we could throw some kind of not so fun reunion in the French countryside.
15Nick @14, I think that the DK article that I linked [below again ] covered those things, sure that some of the commenters did [comments are often the best part].
AFA: “…Heritage Foundation Project 2025 you’ll see that right in the literature. The idea for these camps is to provide an efficient way to ship people out of the country.”. Do you really trust what any of the Rethugs write or say?
The article explained that that’s what the Nazi leadership put out as part of the PR BS for the malleable masses, they knew what the real plans were from the get-go.
No way that the surrounding countries they planned to seize would hold all the ‘fleeing people’ anyway, and they would still need to ‘remove’ them from the occupied nations; which is what they did when they weeded out the ‘undesirables’ from France, Italy, etc.
The slavering bloodthirsty Rethug mobs here aren’t hardly going to wait around for any niceties. First chance they get it’s all out massacre time.
You think you can beat it?
Suggest that you get a couple of shotguns [and boxes of 00buck] and learn how to use them. At least you’ll take a few down with you.
[Yeah, I’m overly strident, I’ve been predicting all of this shit for decades… And some of you are finally beginning to get a glimpse of this reality; because you now can see much more of it out in the open, and with just a little MSM awareness dawning on some of the pundit class.]
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/11/17/2206427/-Now-We-Know-How-Hitler-Did-It
16Thank you for this, Nick.
You have a good heart.
As a Jew who prays throughout the day, peace is in my heart and on my mind. I am charged with Tikkun Olam, repairing our broken world.
The wisdom of our ancestors teaches us that we are not required to complete the work, but neither are we excused from the work. We must do what we can.
Chanukah begins at sunset on December 7. We read the story of the Maccabees, a rag-tag group of warriors led by the family of Judah Maccabee who was a Jewish priest and a son of the priest Mattathias. He led the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire. The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah (Chanukah, and many other spellings) commemorates the restoration of Jewish worship at the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 164 BCE, after Judah Maccabee removed all of the statues depicting Greek gods and goddesses and purified it.
So, yes, we need to be prepared to fight. But that doesn’t mean grab a gun and start shooting. It starts with calling out and speaking up against fascist, yes Nazi, attempts to tear down and destroy freedom and democracy. In Israel, everyone must serve in the military when they become of age. They all have military training. Here in America, it’s a small minority of the population who enlist. Would we be better off with a mandatory service policy here? Just a thought.
Thanks again, Nick, and everyone who has commented before me. You’ve given me something to ponder today. I can feel the the new little wrinkles forming in my brain, and I appreciate it.
Here’s a song for the season.
thatcrowwoman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3UubcYj49k
17Holy shit. Morning Joe just did a story about a New York Times piece about Houston’s policies on putting homeless folks into homes. Apparently more successfully than anywhere else. Even California.
18So I’m thinking skydiving Abbott is about to announce he’s sending in the National Guard to put the kibosh to that communist operation before Fox gets ahold of it and slanders his reputation for being the biggest nationally known dick in a wheelchair.
Thank you thstcrowwoman for those kind words and thoughtful comments. I’m proud that the church has altered its public prayer to simply pray for all those affected by the fighting in Gaza. We can support all innocents caught in the middle. I hope you have a joyous and peaceful holiday season.
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