Pardon Me, You’re Blocking My Light…..

My original plan for today’s post was to talk about following your bliss, but something else–something profoundly negative–has been hammering at me all day, so clearly, I need to talk about that instead. I’ll talk about following your bliss on Monday, because I’m not feeling particularly “blissful” today.  No, today, I want to talk about hate. Well, that’s not really true–I don’t want to talk about it, but clearly I need to talk about it.

You may or may not come from a Christian background, but behind my “pagan veneer”, I definitely do, and here’s what the Bible has to say about hate:

Anyone who claims to live in God’s light and hates a brother or sister is still in the dark. It’s the person who loves brother and sister who dwells in God’s light and doesn’t block the light from others. But whoever hates is still in the dark, stumbles around in the dark, doesn’t know which end is up, blinded by the darkness.–1 John 2:9-11

Let me rephrase that for those of you who don’t feel comfortable with the concept of God:

Anyone who claims to live in the light and hates a brother or sister is still in the dark.  It’s the person who loves brother and sister who dwells in the light and doesn’t block the light from others.  But whoever hates is still in the dark, stumbles around in the dark, doesn’t know which end is up, blinded by the darkness.

So, if you’re fostering hate towards anyone, then not only are you not living in the light, you’re blocking out the light from other people, and you’re not only blocking out that light so that it doesn’t shine on the person, people, or groups of people you hate, you’re blocking out that light for everyone who comes in contact with your hateful attitude!  Now, if you do claim to be a Christian, hopefully you learned either in Church or in Sunday School that Jesus was pretty clear on the fact that we aren’t supposed to block each other’s light! When you’re blocking the light out for someone, you’re not only crushing their spirituality, you’re keeping them out of the loving arms of Jesus Christ by doing so! If you aren’t a Christian, then hopefully you either learned from your chosen path (whether it be Paganism, Islam, Hinduism, or whatever) or from simple common sense that you aren’t supposed to block out the light for other people because it harms them, and we aren’t supposed to go around harming other people!

Given all of that, why do people feel the need to perpetuate hate?  Honestly, most people who are perpetuating it don’t even realize that’s what they’re doing. They dress it up in the language of “political opinions”, and that’s supposed to make it perfectly acceptable and okay!  Newsflash: if you are perpetually speaking negatively about any person, people, or group of people, then you are perpetuating hate!  That includes the Muslims, the LGBT community, the Mexicans, and anybody else that you constantly express ill feelings towards.  Expressing ill feelings is the direct opposite of love; expressing ill feelings is a form of hate-speech. Period.

I grew up being bullied because I was smart and because I was “different”.  I didn’t realize until I grew up what the true definition of that “difference” was: I’m a bi-sexual Catholic Druid with Christian Mystical tendencies. Try wearing all those “hats” in the South!  I am more familiar than most with what hate-speech sounds like, and the effects it can have on your emotions and your soul.  When you’re “hating on” the LGBT community, you’re “hating on” me, because guess what? I’m a member of that community!  When you’re “hating on” people of alternative religious traditions to yours, you’re “hating on” me, because guess what? My faith-base is probably very different from yours, too. Just because I don’t wear a burka doesn’t make me any less of an outcast, religiously-speaking, than the woman who does!

The human heart was not designed to hold hate.  Don’t believe me?  Look around at the lives of people who constantly spout hatred.  Are they happy? Truly happy? How often do truly good things actually happen to them?  No, they roll around in a pit of misery, and try to suck the rest of the world right into that pit with them!  People who shine forth love into the world get an equal amount of love back–truly good things happen to them, and they brighten the worlds of everyone who meets them. Hatred is a heart-sickness.

I have decided to spread light in this world, whatever it may take for me to do that.  That is my Calling, and, yes, I absolutely meant that capital-C.  That is what we were all put here to do; that is our purpose.  We are all meant to live our lives as St. Paul instructed in his Letter to the Ephesians:

Don’t grieve God.  Don’t break his heart.  His Holy Spirit, moving and breathing in you, is the most intimate part of your life, making you fit for himself.  Don’t take such a gift for granted.  Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk.  Be gentle with one another, sensitive.  Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you.–Ephesians 4:30-32

When you spread hate, you are not only blocking out the light for other people, you are also spreading grief and breaking hearts–including God’s, if you are a Believer (and by Believer, I mean Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and anyone else who believes in Deity equally with Christians).  You are taking your soul for granted, and, in the process, you are losing it. What’s the point in gaining everything in this world and losing your own soul?

So, please, if you must hate, at least do it somewhere far away from me. You’re blocking my light, and it’s hurting my soul. It’s also hurting your own soul, and I want better than that for you, so, please, just stop.