Flee from hate speech

Jonathan Rossing asks an important question and deserves a good answer (“Hate speech turns deadly,” March 19).\nIn some ways, I empathize with what Lawrence King dealt with. In high school, I was not generally accepted. I never easily made friends, and I felt like an outcast. I hated those years and could not wait for graduation. As for the solution, something from American history has been omitted. We have enjoyed periods of civil peace our society cannot imagine. Judges and police departments were retired and reduced. Most divorces and altercations became extremely rare. People became capable of living according to the goals our founders envisioned; those who regulate themselves need no laws. This idyllic circumstance developed among communities of various origins and constitutions. What could have engendered such universally peaceful results? The answer is simple: Look up the word ‘revival’, historically speaking. A straight-forward, unopinionated understanding of Christian principles results in the perspective that all people deserve to know Christ. Therefore there is a strong motivation to avoid insulting, and certainly assaulting others. We can find modern examples which injure this perspective, but this does not change what is written. Christians bleed just as anyone else, and sometimes it is difficult not to respond in kind. We are all working through our frailties, and no true Christian will claim to have arrived. Every person deserves to be treated as an equal, and each has needs which we must attempt to meet. The servanthood Christ teaches gives us a desire to make friends of all who will let us, love them like God if possible, or die trying. Our society seems hell-bent on excluding every facet of Christ from public and private venues, or denigrating it to the point of derision. The 10 Commandments point toward freedom and liberty. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could develop a few islands of peace in America? Perhaps the Quakers have something worth considering. The example of their murdered children shows how deep faith can go when we forgive so readily. Do we really understand what motivated our founders and other great figures? We should! We may repeat the tragedy of 19th century France.