SENTINEL WATCH February 18, 2008 Issue

REFUSING TO HATE

KITTIE BURRIS

WITH REPORTS OF VIOLENT ACTS against innocent people both in the United States and abroad—from war zones to shopping malls—a need for a new way to deal with people who are angry or hate-filled seems needed.

I've been thinking a lot about that recently, and it's reminded me of something one of my Sunday School teachers said about how to deal with hatred: We were not to be afraid of it, fascinated by it, or to be hateful in any way to anyone. We definitely were not to return hatred for hatred under any circumstances.

From experience, I know an approach like the one my Sunday School teacher espoused can work. While I was working for a federal law enforcement agency, two of our agents were killed during an investigation of a militant group. I was among the personnel sent to work on the investigation. Tension mounted in the community, and at one point those bitterly opposed to our presence, along with some friends under the influence of alcohol, surrounded our building. Many of them were armed and extremely dangerous. It was a very volatile situation with hatred and the desire for revenge on both sides. Sitting at a second-story window with a weapon on my lap, I asked myself, "What am I doing here?"

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Testimony of Healing

FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT AND SPIRITUAL RENEWAL