My brother- and sister-in-law recently spent some time in Gettysburg exploring the historic battlefield. We were talking about their experience last night at dinner with my wife and son. We talked about how it is difficult to imagine that Americans turned on one another in a Civil War. That neighbors fought neighbors, brothers were against brothers and the deep emotional, physical, and spiritual toll that war exacted on the country, the effects still lingering after 150 years. The death toll of Americans in the US Civil War is estimated at approximately 700,000. We asked ourselves if there wasn’t some way to have avoided that, to have worked it out? Then the conversation turned to the hostile environment of today.
The rhetoric is visceral. The radical left is relentless in trying to undermine and render ineffective a duly elected President. They are using foul and vulgar language, hiding behind “art” to depict beheading and assassination of the President. They are using words that fan the flames of hate, painting the image that if anyone disagrees with their dark view of the world that those people are hate mongers, racists, bigots, and worse. They have driven the narrative of the nation to an extreme level. The news media is part and parcel to amplifying the message of hate and rebellion. The politicians are pointing fingers and elevating accusations. The comedians and entertainers are joining the chorus with their star power.
Then we have a guy from the most gun-controlled state, Illinois, who hops in a van to another most gun-controlled area in Washington, DC, who somehow buys a semi-automatic weapon and manages to find an obscure baseball field where Republican Congressmen are practicing, and opens fire on them. Come to find out, he had a hit list of conservatives to kill. The question that remains is: Did he act alone, or is he part of a larger movement? Certainly, with all the rhetoric that has hatefully hit the news media since the shooting, it begs the question of what is really going on in this country. Many experienced with observing government overthrows believe we are witnessing a coup in the making.
Many others believe we are on the verge of another Civil War. The violence associated with the leftist groups against those who rally in support of the President is their confirmation. Folks, we do not need Americans killing Americans as what happened in the 1860s. We do not need to become a third world nation with communists and anarchists trying to overthrow our form of government. We need to pray for peace. We need to stand for righteousness and accountability. Jesus said in Matthew 5:9, “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” We need peacemakers to speak into this charged atmosphere. Let’s use our conversations to calm down the rhetoric.
