Love thy enemy--but man they make it hard

I have been thinking a lot about the divide we find ourselves in. As one story I read recently noted, the word "hate" is not too strong of a word to describe for both sides.

During the election, I wrote a lot about the divide between Bush's actions and what I think his faith teaches. We are supposed to love our enemies, and I have seen no evidence that Bush has ever even tried to do that. Say nothing about Bin Laden, just try loving your political adversary.

and I think about that for myself. Today, I read this story where the Pentagon confirms that interrogators did abuse the Koran. Not perhaps to the extent suggested in the Newsweek piece, but abuse. The White House and Right Wing Echo Chamber's attacks now stand as self-righteous and hypocritical.

and I feel hatred.

Yesterday, I heard a story about Tom Delay's legal difficulties in Texas. The NPR story discussed how the judge had ruled against his PAC and now the possibilities for criminal trials and even a possible indictment of the Hammer himself. As I drove to my mando lesson, I chuckled and said aloud, "I would love to see that asshole in prison." Then I stopped.

Is that really a good thing to wish on another human being? Even one as horrible and unlikable as Delay? I understand where my hatred comes from. I am stunned and horrified that people of faith--people who believe (at least some of) the tenets of Christ would champion someone who makes George Bush look like a Choir Boy. A person who revels in punishing his enemies. A man who is so ruthless that he inspires fear in others. A person who is so arrogant and filled with his own sense of power, that he once compared his political troubles with those of Christ.

I try not to hate. I know it is bad for me. I also know that if we really believe the teachings of Christ, we should not hate our enemies. But I have no idea how to love someone like Delay. Or Bush. I have been around Christians who could use the language, but underneath, you hear that they are mouthing something that isn't quite real.

I want to be honest. I don't want to hate. But I don't love Delay. I will work on it. Just as I will work to forgive the Christian conservatives who, in my opinion, have not only hijacked my faith, but dirtied and sullied it in partisanship and bigotry. People who tell me that Bush and Delay are in anyway representative of the faith have lost any credibility about the faith itself. Yet, I need to forgive that. I don't know how.

I asked once on this blog about forgiveness and what it meant. Greg, I think, responded very well with this little example. If you trust someone with your money and they let you down, you can forgive them and not hold it against them, but you will not let them manage your money in the future. I am still in the process of not holding it against the people of faith for the Bush RepubliChristians, but I will be cautious to open myself to them on issues of the faith.

One step at a time, eh?