Love Your Enemies

Earlier today, Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts was hospitalized with what appeared to be a stroke, but now appears to have been some other kind of seizure.

I hope that Senator Kennedy has a speedy recovery and is well.

Sadly, I’ve seen a lot today that breaks my heart in how conservatives are handling the incident. Over at Conservative Libertarian Outpost, a part of the WordPress.com Political Blogger Alliance, you can actually see wishes for Ted Kennedy to die. For that matter, you can see the same wish extended to me, since I’m obviously a liberal.

On FreeRepublic, the moderators were kept very busy trying to keep the comments within the bounds of decency … The thread has since been locked. To be fair, there was a lot of good there, too. But the fact that people take delight in others’ suffering is a problem.

All told, this got me thinking about other things I’ve seen recently. Ann Coulter’s recent column includes the paragraph:

It is beyond outrageous for liberals to complain about the practice of linking Democrats to the national party when their calculated strategy in race after race in the red states has been to run Democratic candidates who appear to be Americans. They’re not Americans. They’re liberals! I don’t care how much hay is sticking out of their straw hats.

“They’re not Americans. They’re liberals!”

Frankly, that’s one of the most un-American things I’ve read in a long time. I find it unfathomable that anyone reads her column and takes it seriously. The ability to spew random hateful comments should not be mistaken for cognition.

Meanwhile, in Iraq, a soldier used a copy of the Qu’uran for target practice. Apparently, the soldier thought that we were getting along too well with the Iraqis and that al-Qaeda didn’t have enough propaganda material for recruiting purposes, so he decided to help them out by fostering the Crusader image. Nothing helps wins hearts and minds, after all, like showing that you have utter contempt for the local culture.

Of course, again, the folks on FreeRepublic were generally outraged that the US is apologizing.

There once was a time that conservatives professed Christian values. I would like to remind people of one of those values, which is apparently being ignored –

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

- Matthew 5:43-45 (NIV; copied courtesy of BibleGateway.com)

That’s Jesus speaking about enemies and the need to love them. I will not defend the principle, because I think it needs no defense. Jesus put it forward.

Do you think that it’s loving your enemies to wish a Senator dead because he differs with your politics? To shoot a religious book? If you can even think about defending this kind of debate, and this kind of argument, then don’t then tell me that you’re trying to defend any kind of Christian values or traditions.

And don’t call yourself pro-life if you wish Senator Kennedy dead, either. You’re not. For whatever reason, you might oppose abortion, but you’re not pro-life. Jamelle, another member of the Alliance who blogs at the United States of Jamerica, often puts forward the idea that there are pro-lifers who just want to control women. If your version of being pro-life includes wishing political foes dead, then maybe you’re the type of person of whom he is speaking. It is obviously not a belief in the inherent sacredness of life that motivates such comments.

I don’t pretend to be perfect on this kind of thing, but I do believe in the principle. I wish Ted Kennedy well, and I hope for his recovery. Sure, I’d love to see him out of the Senate. That doesn’t mean that I want him to die. (The FReepers who wished Kennedy a speedy recovery followed by a long retirement, by the way, are perfectly in-bounds, as far as I’m concerned.)

I do, by the way, want to remark on one blog that I found which handled the news of Senator Kennedy respectfully and appropriately. Ryan from Axis of Right displayed genuine grace in his post.

We may not agree with his politics, but during this episode he’s a fellow human being, not a political dartboard.

Right on, Ryan! That’s the way to do it. People of good character don’t kick their opponents when they’re down, and they don’t let emotions blind them to what is right and what is wrong.

To everyone — how do you argue? Why not take a moment before writing something and think about whether it’s really what you want to say about the subject, and about yourself? Is it really worth getting in that cheap shot, knowing how you’re going to look for taking it?

Are we so desperate to be rid of Ted Kennedy that we actually wish him to die of a stroke?

I’m reminded of a professor in college who took great delight in the death of Lee Atwater, and expressed his fervent hope that Mr. Atwater suffered for a long time. I learned a lot from that professor, but I always knew that he was not a person for whom I could have much respect … he took delight in the death of another man simply because of his politics. Do you really want to be that kind of person?