Righteous

. . . and those who hate the righteous will be punished.

 - From Psalm 34

Hate the sin, love the sinner.

But this is a very difficult thing to master. We go through great gyrations when it comes to proving that we don't hate someone. It's righteous indignation!

It's not gossip. I'm being helpful.

There are behaviors that go along with hate. Let me try to list some of them:

• Bringing every conversation back to that one person, so that you can cast aspersions . . . again. 
• Staring out your window at whatever the neighbor's doing . . . again. 
• Commenting on how a person looks. 
• Repeating something about someone, that would cause others to think less of that person.
• A lot of teasing. An awful lot of it.
• Not paying attention to what a person is saying, so that you won't forget your retort.
• Telling someone they don't have the right to an opinion, for any reason. 

These are relatively tame behaviors. But there is a rippling effect to all human activity. The little harmless thing you do, that you don't think will hurt anybody else, can and does lead to other, more serious problems. The current heightened level of violence in the US may have its root in some kid being laughed at back in 1998.

We hate because it's easy to hate. We're so self-absorbed, that we may see others as competition, or a threat, to our own well-being. Our imaginings have a way of becoming very real to us. 

But why do people hate the righteous? Why don't we believe that peace and gentleness actually is the way to defeat injustice? Why is our response to hate . . . hate itself?

Righteous people model kindness, charity, honesty, fidelity, honor, dignity, and purity. 

And yet, they're hated for that! Why?

And why do people, that understand righteousness, engage in attitudes that are decidedly hateful? Why do they persist, even when it's pointed out?

One of the great mysteries to be understood, probably only at the Return of Christ . . . is why goodness was so hated by humans.