It's time for religious people to stop the hatefulness
By Norris Burkes
Florida Today
Published: Friday, March 26, 2010 5:00 p.m. MDT
In my head, I've made this imaginary 911 call a dozen times.
"Hello, 911? I'd like to report a drive-by hating."
"Can you identify the perpetrators?" they ask.
"Yes. The perps are news media pundits, mostly men, with a long record of speech that incites fear and hate."
Most of you know the kind I'm talking about.
There are plenty of examples on the right and left that stir up scorn, fear and hate. Glenn Beck, for instance, posed for his new book cover wearing what appears to be a uniform from Communist Russia. Bill Maher is fond of calling people morons. Rush Limbaugh and Al Franken call everyone who won't parrot their opinion idiots. And my mom won't let me repeat what Howard Stern calls people who disagree with him.
Some of these talking heads may be your heroes, but it's time people of faith unmask them for the opportunists they are.
I know the type from the wrestling shows I watched as a kid. It took me a few television seasons to realize that while the masked wrestlers were people with amazing physical agility, they weren't true to what they were selling.
The matches weren't really a contest of strength; they were a fixed contest for ratings.
Pundits are no different than these "athletes." They are intellectually agile, but they use their intellect to accomplish dizzying acts of circular logic.
They don't want to open dialogue and find solutions. They want to drop a match in your tank and then charge you admission to watch the explosion.
If 911 fails me, perhaps I could call the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention to report an epidemic outbreak of fear because these pundits have infected everyone: our pastors, teachers and media. The most innocuous people have become carriers as they organize themselves for a tea party or a coffee klatch.
If the CDC can't help me, maybe I should call the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to report the hate bombs being planted by these pundits among our young. The result is that college campuses are being marked with swastikas, churches are being torched, and people are toting guns to coffee shops.
Because none of these organizations can offer any practical help, I'm calling on people of faith. No matter what your religion, it's time to declare, "Stop the hatin'; it ain't helpin'!"
Tell these fear mongers to stop promoting causes and start prompting conversations. Peel off their bumper stickers. Turn off your TV, and think for yourselves. Pundits such as Rush may be right, as he says, but there are more righteous ways to be right. Maher and his camp may be brilliantly clever, but there are smarter ways to bring change.
After you've kicked these showmen out of your home, invite a neighbor in and start conversations that speak to people's needs and seek solutions. Then listen. Really listen.
I don't mean to stir the pot; I'm trying to be the chaplain walking down the middle of the battlefield telling everyone to put the guns down and talk about this. I'm calling on people of faith to stop the talk of fear and hate and find the wisdom in the words offered by the Apostle Paul in Colossians 4:5-6, in "The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language":
"Use your heads as you live and work among outsiders. Don't miss a trick. Make the most of every opportunity. Be gracious in your speech. The goal is to bring out the best in others in a conversation, not put them down, not cut them out."
Norris Burkes is a former civilian hospital chaplain and an Air National Guard chaplain.
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