Why is there so much hate and divisiveness in our country today? Why does it seem like we can't even have a civil discussion about just about anything without it dissolving into rancor and bitterness?
Why?
It seems like so much is tearing us apart these days.
Arguments over whether guns should be controlled as a way to stop the killing of innocent people.
Arguments over when life begins and whether a woman should have the right to choose what happens to her own body.
Arguments over immigrants and how they should be treated.
Arguments over whether President Trump is good or bad for our country.
Do athletes who refuse to stand for the National Anthem disrespect or flag and our country, or do they have a right to protest racial injustice?
Are we jeopardizing our planet by clearcutting forests to build houses, by insisting on single use plastics, by promoting the fossil fuel industry, by eliminating environmental protections to encourage business expansion and growth?
And then, of course, there are the racial divisions that continue to simmer, hidden prejudices that surface and are often whipped to a frenzy by those who seek to foment hate and discord.
I've just touched the surface here. But all of this came to mind as I walked along a narrow street in beautiful St. Augustine, FL, which we are visiting this week. I saw the sign in the photo above outside someone's home.
"Hate Has No Home Here."
Should not that be the way it is everywhere? Why is that thought so unusual that it requires a sign outside someone's home?
Somehow this needs to change. Instead of political leaders who seek to take advantage of differences, of prejudices, of simmering suspicions to pit one group against another, we need leaders who will work every day to overcome those challenges, not benefit from them.
Somehow, some day that sign outside that home in St. Augustine, FL must become the watchword of our nation.
Hate has no home here.