February 4, 2015 (Wednesday)
I was born in Texas. I’ve never lived anywhere else. I love this state. Most of the people I dearly love live here. Almost everyone who has helped me along life’s way is a Texan, either by birth or choice. Not everyone in Texas has good ideas about everything so it’s not a perfect place. But it is in no sense “a crazy state,” as a Florida congressman said in an important House of Representatives committee meeting Tuesday.
Stereotyping people is something to avoid like the plague, and I was taught that from my earliest days in college. In fact, I was taught that principle, without using the word, all my life. We cannot judge an entire group of people by the actions of a few. Even in times of war, when we are led to hate the enemy, we know there are individuals on either side who agree with our own ideas. We may even know personally some of them, and have warm feelings toward them as individuals. We cannot paint everyone with the same brush.
Strange as it may seem, there are husbands and wives in our country who are on opposite sides in politics. One is conservative and the other liberal. They don’t hate each other; they love each other. How do they do it? I have no idea, but the very fact that such couples exist proves that it can be done.
Could the teachings of Jesus be brought to bear upon issues like these? What did He say? Maybe this quotation from Him (in the Contemporary English Version) applies: “You know that our ancestors were told, “Do not murder” and “A murderer must be brought to trial.” But I promise you that if you are angry with someone, you will have to stand trial. If you call someone a fool, you will be taken to court. And if you say that someone is worthless, you will be in danger of the fires of hell. So if you are about to place your gift on the altar and remember that someone is angry with you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. Make peace with that person, then come back and offer your gift to God. Before you are dragged into court, make friends with the person who has accused you of doing wrong. If you don’t, you will be handed over to the judge and then to the officer who will put you in jail. I promise you that you will not get out until you have paid the last cent you owe” (Matthew 5:21ff).
Crazy people live in all 50 states. But no state is crazy. Great people live in each state.
To quote Yakov Smirnoff, an American immigrant comedian from Russia, “America! What a country!”
