Why Must We Hate

As I have seen over the past few days, the appearance of President Obama at the University of Notre Dame has caused quite a scandal. But it is not the kind of scandal most would see. The scandal is the outright hatred of a man on display by people who claim to be Christians. They claim to respect all life, but refute that by their disrespect of this one life. While I don't agree with him on many things, didn't vote for him, and would stand against him on many issues, this is not one of them. Asking the president of the United States to speak at commencement is a long standing tradition. But has the level of hatred of whoever is not a political ally risen to a point where we are to shun all those who do not agree with us. If so, then politics has replaced God as the paramount item in our life.

As followers of Christ, are we not supposed to go out to those with whom we disagree and seek to settle our differences out of love? Are we not to show them God's love through us so that they may come to God? Are we not to hate the sin and love the sinner? Or are all these ideas as outdated as loving one's enemies and giving all to the poor seem to be today? Saint Francis of Assisi once nearly converted the Sultan of Egypt, and would have had it not been for the thousands of Christians who were seeking to kill all Muslims. How much could we do for the kingdom of God, and to improve conditions here on earth, if we were to exchange protest for prayer, indifference for caring, and hatred for love?