{"id":11053,"date":"2020-10-07T06:55:39","date_gmt":"2020-10-07T10:55:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=11053"},"modified":"2020-10-07T06:55:45","modified_gmt":"2020-10-07T10:55:45","slug":"in-a-decent-civilized-country","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=11053","title":{"rendered":"… in a decent, civilized country?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I used to think that the opposite of \u201clove\u201d was \u201chate,\u201d and maybe it still is. You\u2019ll remember that two weeks ago amid these posts, we contemplated the concept of contempt, which seems close<\/em> to the opposite of love, although more contrasting with honor; contempt is a form of anger directed toward a perceived lower-status individual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This weekend I had a conversation with my well-respected friend, Collin, who inspired me to wonder about how to love my neighbor a little more. How do I better love the people put in my path? \u2026 and not just those who think like me?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this thing we keep calling \u201cthe year 2020,\u201d is the opposite of love, therefore, something else?<\/em> Has the opposite of love and respect digressed into something long perceived as a little more casual? \u2026something maybe a little more socially acceptable? If we can be lured, no less, into believing a response is socially acceptable, we never have to wrestle with any potential foolishness we may instead be unintentionally fostering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What if the opposite of \u201clove,\u201d then, was actually to \u201clabel\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hear me here\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are two parts to the definition. Part one:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

label<\/strong> | \u02c8l\u0101b\u0259l | v.<\/em>  \u2014 to assign to a category\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And two: to assign to a category, especially inaccurately or restrictively.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words, we are designating false divisions for entire people groups. For example\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Police aren\u2019t \u201cpigs.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Black men aren\u2019t \u201cthugs.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Democrats aren\u2019t \u201cMarxists.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Republicans aren\u2019t \u201cracists.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Millennials aren\u2019t \u201cnarcissists.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only label accurately applied to all of the above is \u201dhuman.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But let\u2019s go one step further \u2014 because if we\u2019re really transparent, we\u2019ve each been guilty of saying something <\/em>inaccurate. <\/em>Why does it matter? Why does it really matter if we assign such colossal, indivisible categories?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 We get entrenched in our opinion; we can easily, earnestly conclude at times that another makes no sense\u2026<\/em> So why does it really matter if I partake in assigning these mass labels that Twitter, social media rants, and opinion pieces vaguely veiled as \u201cnews\u201d routinely project? After all, most of it\u2019s in jest, so-to-speak. I know not every single police officer, black man, Democrat, Republican, and Millennial is that way. Just well, most<\/strong> of them\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hear me once more\u2026 allow me a startling question\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How does a genocide begin?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 The Holocaust\u2026 Rwanda\u2026 Cambodia\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Approximately 67% of the Jewish population in Europe\u2026 70% of the Tutsis (a Bantu speaking social class) in Rwanda \u2026 99% of the Vietnamese Cambodians\u2026 <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notice the entire people groups.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friends, years after the Holocaust, scholars continue to ask how in the world such could actually happen. How could the intentional annihilation of an entire people group occur in a decent, civilized country? How could we kill classes, ethnicities, or people simply because of what they looked like<\/em> or believed?<\/em> How, too, could millions more stand by and watch?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allow me to soberly suggest it begins with labels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Labels make another lesser. Labels dehumanize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And there\u2019s one more sobering question\u2026 if we\u2019re transparent enough to ask it…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do we guard against a genocide happening here<\/em> \u2014 a current,<\/em> decent, civilized country?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We start by stopping with the labels\u2026 recognizing to label is not only not<\/em> to love; it\u2019s also to be wholly inaccurate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Respectfully\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AR
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I used to think that the opposite of \u201clove\u201d was \u201chate,\u201d and maybe it still is. You\u2019ll remember that two weeks ago amid these posts, we contemplated the concept of contempt, which seems close to the opposite of love, although more contrasting with honor; contempt is a form of anger directed toward a perceived lower-status … <\/p>\n

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