The Power of Children and How To Change the World.
A couple of years ago, I had my first encounter with the Westboro Baptist Church. For those of you who are unfamiliar with that particular church they are the group from Topeka, Kansas who go around and protest military funerals and just about everything else you can think of. They have a very strong message of hate that they spew anywhere and everywhere that they can. The content of the things they say are so bad that I won't post them here, but basically everybody is going to Hell and they want you to know it. They also have stated on their church website that they DO NOT want other people to be saved.
Anyway, a couple of years ago they came to Arizona to protest several events including a military funeral and a local high school. Due to the vulgarity of their message several hundred people showed up to counter protest the 4-5 people from Kansas, going so far as to follow them around town to their protest sites. What bothered me was that the Westboro group brought their small children to protest with them. Unfortunately the counter protesters were almost as hateful.
I began to consider what this sight must have been like from the perspective of a small child within this church. Your whole life you are taught that the world is evil and filled with evil people, then when your parents take you protesting you are confronted with a mob of people who spew hatred right back at you. At that point, I would probably start to think my parents were right. I saw a documentary on the church and at one of their protests, a group drove by in a car and threw a can out the window striking one of their small boys in the head. The people then drove away laughing and forever confirmed to that young child that the world really is filled with evil people who are going to Hell. How sad, that one act will now be remembered for a life time in the mind of that child and another generation of hatred has now been established.
Children are powerful creatures. If we want to change the world we need their help and have to understand it will take a while. What if whenever the Westboro people went out to protest there were no mobs waiting for them? What if people actually responded to their hatred with kindness? Imagine the conflicting message that would send to those children. Mommy and Daddy say everyone is evil but when we protest, everybody is so nice to us. The same can be said for our interactions with our enemies at war. I understand we have to fight at times but when we have prisoners, that is why we MUST treat them with decency. Let's face it, most of hate is bred by ignorance. And when we respond with hate we only validate and confirm the brainwashing they have experienced their entire lives. Loving our enemies will seem vain if we only have the short term in mind. In order for it to work, we need to love them for a couple generations. If we remember to have patience we really can change the world. I'm starting to think this sage that walked the Earth 2,000 years ago might have known what He was talking about.
Anyway, a couple of years ago they came to Arizona to protest several events including a military funeral and a local high school. Due to the vulgarity of their message several hundred people showed up to counter protest the 4-5 people from Kansas, going so far as to follow them around town to their protest sites. What bothered me was that the Westboro group brought their small children to protest with them. Unfortunately the counter protesters were almost as hateful.
I began to consider what this sight must have been like from the perspective of a small child within this church. Your whole life you are taught that the world is evil and filled with evil people, then when your parents take you protesting you are confronted with a mob of people who spew hatred right back at you. At that point, I would probably start to think my parents were right. I saw a documentary on the church and at one of their protests, a group drove by in a car and threw a can out the window striking one of their small boys in the head. The people then drove away laughing and forever confirmed to that young child that the world really is filled with evil people who are going to Hell. How sad, that one act will now be remembered for a life time in the mind of that child and another generation of hatred has now been established.
Children are powerful creatures. If we want to change the world we need their help and have to understand it will take a while. What if whenever the Westboro people went out to protest there were no mobs waiting for them? What if people actually responded to their hatred with kindness? Imagine the conflicting message that would send to those children. Mommy and Daddy say everyone is evil but when we protest, everybody is so nice to us. The same can be said for our interactions with our enemies at war. I understand we have to fight at times but when we have prisoners, that is why we MUST treat them with decency. Let's face it, most of hate is bred by ignorance. And when we respond with hate we only validate and confirm the brainwashing they have experienced their entire lives. Loving our enemies will seem vain if we only have the short term in mind. In order for it to work, we need to love them for a couple generations. If we remember to have patience we really can change the world. I'm starting to think this sage that walked the Earth 2,000 years ago might have known what He was talking about.
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