We Are All Human

 

   Lately C has discovered Mark Lowry. Mark is a Christian singer who was part of the Gaither Vocal Band from 1988 to 2001 and from 2009 to 2013.  C likes to listen to them because they sing a lot of the Baptist spirituals that he grew up with. They are also very, very good musicians. In addition to being a talented baritone, Mark is also a comedian.

  I was listening to one of his comedy performances the other day. He started talking about people that he had met while travelling and performing. One of the things he mentioned is that he met people of different faiths that loved the Lord. This was eye opening to him as he had been raised to believe that his faith (Baptist) was the correct faith and that all the others were wrong. He went on to say that one thing he could never figure out was how to hate the sin and love the sinner. He said hating his own sins was a full time job. He didn't have time to hate anyone else's sins. Then he suggested that everyone should hate their own sins and love others.

  If you think I'm about to launch into another column on how we need to start seeing each other as fellow humans, you're right. I am. I'm convinced that much of what we are seeing in the world right now can be tied to the fact that we don't always look at others as humans and worthy of respect and decent treatment.

  Thanks to social media we can pick and choose who we associate with online and what we choose to see. We do not have to listen to the voices of those who have beliefs that we don't like or agree with. It used to be that we would watch the news and everyone would see the same news. Now there are conservative news channels and liberal news channels each with their own spin on what has happened during the day.

  The pandemic has increased this isolation as people stay in their own homes for safety. It's even easier to block out what you don't like. 

  There are occasional glimmers of hope. I saw one of them this week when I watched the 60 Minutes interview of the lawyers that prosecuted the George Floyd case. One of the lawyers interviewed was Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who admitted he felt, "a little bad". for the defendant. He said, "I think he deserved to be convicted, but he's a human being." Think about that for a minute or two. Mr. Ellison is African American and Muslim, two groups that often don't get the best of treatment from much of the population. He would have had every right to gloat over the verdict in this case. After all, he was part of a team that did something that has never been done in the state before. He didn't.  He said he never forgets that everyone in a criminal proceeding is a human being. When asked if he felt the maximum penalty should be imposed to "send a message", Mr. Ellison said that he felt the penalty should fit the offense adding that the state was looking for accountability not revenge.

   I think these are two good examples of people from groups that are usually thought of as being exclusive showing a different side. Two good example we could follow.