Let Us Love

Some of our country’s darkest times have been when we have acted out of fear. We have seen fit to destroy the rights, careers, and even lives of others because we were afraid.

We were afraid of suspected witchcraft, so we burned women alive. We were afraid that Communist ideology would destroy our country, so we blacklisted and persecuted people for their thoughts. We were afraid that Japanese Americans might turn against us when Pearl Harbor was attacked, so we built internment camps to lock them away and keep us safe.

In each instance we look back, with the benefit of hindsight, in absolute disgust.

We become afraid because people don’t look like us, think like us, or pray like us. We became willing to hurt others because someone hurt us. Or we simply fear that they might hurt us and so we want to hurt them first.

We use fear to justify discrimination, cruelty, and even death. “We must keep America safe.” Sadly, it seems, we have yet another new target: Muslims. But our reasoning remains the same: Fear.

Freedom of speech is not just to ensure my right to my opinion, it is to ensure my neighbor’s right to disagree. Freedom of religion is not just to ensure that I can worship how (and if) I choose, it is to ensure that my neighbor can as well, even if our beliefs are not the same.

Part of what makes this country wonderful, when we allow ourselves to live up to it, is because we are a mixture of so many voices. There isn’t an us and them. We are them. They are us.

We are black, white, Native American, Hispanic, and Asian. We are Christian, Muslim, Jew, Buddhist, and Atheist. We are gay, straight, and bisexual. We are female, male, and transgender. We are Democrat, Republican, Green, and Independent.

We can’t make the country safer for us by attacking them. We are them. They are us. If you deny someone’s liberty to ensure your own, that is not patriotism, that is discrimination. And it is ugly, painful, and it ruins lives. And it better be un-American, because that is not the America I want to help build. I want to build an America with love, respect, and compassion. I want an America whose first response is empathy and love, not discrimination and revenge.

Let us learn from our mistakes. Let us not use our fear to hate. Let us love.

13 Dec 2015