Hating Groups of People Is Ignorant

By Wm. May
Published: 01/09/17 Topics: Comments: 0

Contrary to common thinking, not everyone believes in love thy neighbor, turn the other cheek, or do unto others and you would have them do unto you. Many people try, and most of us fail, in some way.

Recent events and anger reveal those are missing ingredients from pretty much everyone involved.

Although our family is not of the faith, when my son switched schools at age 10, we chose a Catholic grade school. No particular reason, except we were looking for a good education from good people. We found it there.

He wasn't so sure about the uniforms and on the first Friday, he came home perplexed. "Dad, you are not going to believe this, " he said, "but after going to school all week, they expect us to come back on Sunday."

Some friends questioned a non-religious family sending their son to Catholic school. But there we met Father Bob Camusso, or should I say, re-met, because prior to the priesthood, Bob Camusso had been a prominent advertising agency executive, an industry in which my wife and I had worked.

He was really a "Man about town", dashing, handsome and well spoken, until he was called to the church and a life of service. He was then man about town in a fulfilling way.

Although my Dad had passed away five years earlier, I could just hear my never-miss-a-church-service man saying, "Hey, it's not going to kill him to go to a church school. You went to church and I think it was good for you."

My Dad said that kind of thing about many obligations we all face in life. Go to school and study, go to work and hustle, take care of our families, take care of ourselves by living right, avoiding alcohol and drugs.

He said, "You do anything you want in life, but if you stay with the 10 commandments, you'll do Ok and will have done a good job."

I enjoyed conversation with Father Bob and in one, I asked what do you do when people are difficult, or rude or misbehave. He smiled and said, "Well, Bill, we must all remember. Forgiveness is not a suggestion or a recommendation, it is an absolute requirement."

Watching the angry protests against racism and the hatred toward police causes me to think of these two "Fathers." One my natural Dad and the other a wise clergyman. I don't have answers to the race divide, now hundreds of years old. I don’t know how to relive the pain so many African Americans feel. I don't know about policing, except from my own limited interactions with law enforcement.

But I do know that we should all be frightened by the hatred we see. I can't see how it leads to resolution, but could easily result in the kind of physical confrontation that caused these problems in the first place.

I also know that there are there are certain individuals who do despicable things. Things beyond comprehension or even description, Things which are difficult to believe.

I am absolutely sure of this - to hate any group of people as a group, or because some members of that group are bad is unfair and ignorant. I won't hate any race because someone in that race is bad. I won't hate police because some people in their ranks are bad.

Instead, I want to be intelligent enough to assess each person I meet one by one, person to person, and to look for the good in everyone. I refuse to hate any group of people no matter the popular social pressure to so.

Author: Wm. May
Blog #: 0753 – 01/09/17