America the Resentful: A Political Epidemic
We are witnessing an epidemic of deep bitterness and resentment that most of us have never seen in American society. It seems that everyone resents everyone else: races, genders, classes, political parties, age groups, and religions all have reached a level of anger and hostility toward one another that has boiled over into a rage that is out of control.
A more recent example is the "#KillKavanaugh" hashtag that was trending on Twitter. It could be interpreted in one of two ways: one, to convey only the sense of defeating the nomination (similar to "killing" some legislation). The other is that it intended to mean a threatening action toward Judge Kavanaugh and his family.
In this age of mob action, unrestrained violence, and an absolute intolerance toward anyone who dares to disagree with someone else, such a hashtag easily spills over into an encouragement to take someone's life. We've already witnessed this craziness ad nauseam, from both sides of the political aisle. There is no good excuse for anything like this on either side.
But #KillKavanaugh is part of a bigger issue, the politics of resentment that has swept our nation. Resentment and hatred have reached a fever pitch. Today, we don't merely disagree; we actively hate and try to destroy the lives of those whose opinions run contrary to ours. Respectful discussion or open-minded debate are gone. Instead, yelling and screaming drown out any respectful discourse, and there's a haste to picket, pillage, assassinate reputations, and even literally kill anyone who gets in our way.
It's very easy to start a fire, but very difficult to put it out. Resentment is like a forest fire, or even a highly contagious disease. How do you stop a wildfire or an epidemic? Unless it's deliberately doused or vigorously treated, it just keeps on going. Often, it simply has to burn itself out or run its deadly course, but enormous damage has been done when it's over. And the casualties are counted on both sides of the devastation. Actress and novelist Carrie Fisher wrote, "Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die."
I think that the current epidemic in America will take a supernatural intervention to quell it before it consumes everyone in its path. Our natural human bent toward the bad ("original sin") takes a spiritual force to counter it, and that force is what Christian theology calls the "Restrainer" (2 Thessalonians 2:6, 7), the Spirit of God who has always been at work to prevent the world from becoming as bad as it could be, or wanted to be.
The Christian church has a role to play in this sad drama. Christians can renounce their complicity in all this. They can gather to pray fervently for God to interrupt this evil movement created for political power, and to restore the sanity that, by all appearances, has been lost on all sides. Until we are sick enough of the carnage, and ready for repentance and reconciliation, things will become much worse before they get better. And if they do continue on this steep downward slope, what will our nation look like when it's all over?
It's time to set aside the bitterness and hatred and seek God's power, forgiveness, and help to rebuild our nation for our children and the following generations.
