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FeaturesMarch 12, 2022

My wife and I were able to take a much-needed vacation recently. She found a bed and breakfast in Minnesota, so I went along with the plan. I was concerned about heading that far north in February, but thankfully the weather cooperated. We stayed in the historic town of Stillwater. The scenery was beautiful, but it was different than southeast Missouri...

My wife and I were able to take a much-needed vacation recently. She found a bed and breakfast in Minnesota, so I went along with the plan. I was concerned about heading that far north in February, but thankfully the weather cooperated. We stayed in the historic town of Stillwater. The scenery was beautiful, but it was different than southeast Missouri.

When I would look at many of the shops, I would see a sticker that said, "Hate is not welcome here." I thought to myself, "I can go into this business, and I will be treated with kindness." However, I did not understand what motivated the signage and who was not welcome. Especially since the slogan had an LGBTQ+ flag as a backdrop.

I later learned that in the summer of 2020 a Muslim woman and her child were harassed by a racist gang at a Stillwater restaurant. Staff had to help escort the woman and her child to safety. The community rallied together against white supremacy during a 4th of July gathering that year. The stickers remain on the businesses today.

Unfortunately, our community has had a couple places of worship burned over the last couple of years. One still bears the damage; the other is completely leveled with plans to rebuild. Whether or not you agree with the beliefs of these groups, no one has the right to burn down someone's place of worship. No one should ever harass someone of a different faith or lifestyle.

As Christians, we must denounce such evil behavior. There must be a basic understanding of morality for a society to function. For years we have been encouraged to be tolerant of others who are different from ourselves. Now our society has turned its anger towards those with whom they disagree. Decent people are unfairly labeled as bigots and racists if they are hesitant to repeat a slogan or change their interpretation of Scripture.

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I began to wonder if I was open about my faith in Jesus, and my biblically based beliefs about marriage and human sexuality, if I would be welcomed in those businesses. I agree that supremacists and bullies are not to be welcomed. They should be shunned and if they harm anyone, they should be punished by the full extent of the law. If they do not act on their hatred, then they must be tolerated like everyone else.

We cannot drive out hate with hate. Yes, we get outraged when we think of a woman and a child being bullied for their religious beliefs and appearance. But we better be careful not to be guilty of the same level of hatred. This small group of people who acted so rudely do not represent most Americans. Most of us want to live at peace with our neighbors.

If you are like me, you have had the people of eastern Europe on your mind. The Ukrainian people are united in their cause to save their country. They do not have time to fight over nonessential differences. It will be easy for them to hate all Russian people, but not all Russian people support this aggressive invasion of a sovereign nation. It is wrong to hate an entire race of people for their government's actions.

Hateful people can be changed. In New Testament, Saul of Tarsus was a devout Jew who believed that Christianity was a dangerous cult that needed to be stopped. He did everything in his power to persecute Christians. He hunted down people and had them arrested. He may have never changed, if Jesus had not supernaturally confronted him on the road to Damascus.

God changed Saul's heart and mind. We know him as the Apostle Paul. God inspired him to write many of the books in our New Testament. Paul ended up dying as a martyr for Christianity.

We never elevate one group by taking rights away from another group. We must tolerate differences and allow people to practice their religion inside their places of worship as well as in the marketplace. Instead of banning hateful people from our businesses, let us ban hatred from our hearts.

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