We can do better, we will do better, and we must do better.

Sometimes, I am surprised by the perspective I take on certain issues.  When would I ever expect myself to be in the position of defending Sarah Palin?  Sometimes, the impossible happens.  In the biz, we might call that a miracle.  Personally, I consider it an appeal to reason.  Common sense seems to be missing in our world all too often.

I, like so many across the country and around, was appalled by the events in Tuscon this week.  The way I see it, every time a life is cut short by an act of violence or hate is an unspeakable tragedy.  Certainly this applies to our members of Congress.  It applies to innocent bystanders.  It applies to the high profile cases in suburbia and the invisible residents of the inner cities.  Unfortunately, not everyone is afforded the same press coverage.

In today's world, that's what it's all about.  Who can be the first with the story?  Who has the better opinion?  Who can win the day by saying not the right thing, but the most repercussive?  It's really just a well-funded pissing contest, seeing how can talk louder for longer without actually saying anything of any worth.  In the process, throwing in an insult of seven for good measure has become the norm.

I was dismayed by the shootings in Arizona, but further dismayed at the immediate conjecture that the political atmosphere was the fault.  I suppose it is human nature to assign blame for the things that go wrong in our lives, and the faster, the better.  Before all the facts were in, it was decided to blame an icon on Sarah Palin's website, as opposed to the actual mental illness of the shooter.  So many jumped on the bandwagon so quickly, citing her as the figurehead of an unnamed mass of maniacs, indicting her in the court of public opinion, before we knew who lived and who died.

And it continues.  My Facebook feed is filled with retorts from some of my friends, who might otherwise been seen as compassionate, piling on the vitriol with their own, lashing out at Sarah Palin's response to those who would condemn her with their own hate-inducing language and attitudes.  I'll grant her response was not the most graceful (to put it all too lightly), but it seemed so highly ironic that those who blamed in her type of "fear mongering" in the immediate aftermath of the shooting would be so quick to do the same to her.

If we think the political atmosphere is too toxic, if we feel that the current level of rhetoric is out of this world crazy, then how can we expect to fix it by continuing the cycle?  Are we not, as seminarians, obligated to find the middle ground?  Are we not here to make peace with those who disagree with us?  What are we willing to sacrifice in good faith, as we expect them to do the same?

How can I, in good conscience, claim to represent a righteous path if my words and actions are not righteous?  How can I expect those I want to lead to follow me if I do not lead by example?

Rev. Fred Phelps, of Westboro Baptist Church infamy, has consistently acted in a way I consider reprehensible pretty much every day for as long as I can remember.  Here, again, he made plans to picket the funeral of an innocent 9-year-old girl, attempting to assign blame of his own (against the gays of the world), and celebrating the actions of, in his eyes, a just God.  I don't think there is any way my position could be more opposite of his.  I think that, while he speaks as though divinely inspired, he cannot, in any way, represent a God so often thought of as pure love while spouting his ideas so deeply rooted in hate.  And yet...he is a member of our society, free to vocalize his views.  We don't have to agree with him at all.  But the moment we try to stifle his speech, how can we be sure ours isn't next?

So instead, there are so many that would call him names.  Hate begets hate, no question in that.  I don't think i have the capacity to hate, try as I might.  All I can offer is love; it's up to him to do the rest.  I don't ever think he will, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't try.  For I may not reach him, but I may reach another, and if in doing say I change one heart from hate to love, then it is all worth it.

If we are the leaders of the spiritual future, if we are to be the examples for those that would follow in faith, let our message be of love, and always of love.  Let us remember that our actions speak louder than our words, and our words reveal what is truly in our hearts.  Let us go forth and forgive those that hate so that they may know love, and let us love those we have forgiven, so that we can forge a new future of peace.