B.W. COOK -- The Crowd

Society coverage is more than just the reporting of events. It is also

the reporting of issues that define the social fabric of the people.

This columnist has, from time to time, ruminated on the state of our

local society affected by drug use, alcoholism, spousal abuse, divorce,

political trends and religion. The dichotomy of one day writing about

fashion and extravagant entertaining, and the next day reflecting on

vital social issues may be disconcerting to some readers. However, it is

of utmost importance to this columnist to handle social issues, as well

as social functions.

In truth, I am proud of my need to speak out and grateful for this

column, which affords me a pulpit for my opinion, well received or

vilified. I also believe that discussing social issues adds credence to

the coverage of society.

All that fund-raising for all those causes is not just about getting

dressed for the party. There are people in need of help. There are wounds

to heal. There is progress to be made toward achieving peace in our

community and in our world via dialogue and respect for differences.

Enough explanation.

Earlier this week, I picked up my youngest daughter at a friend’s

home. She had gone with her friend, a warm and intelligent young woman

from an exemplary family of high moral standard, to a church function in

the neighborhood.

My child got in the car and was pensive. This in itself meant trouble.

“What happened?” I questioned.

“I felt so awful,” she said. “I wanted to speak out, but I just kept

quiet.”

She retreated back to her pensive state.

“Speak out about what?” I pressed.

“It was just horrible. They kept talking about Jesus, and that

everyone who is not Christian and does not believe in Jesus is going to

hell. It was beyond just a little mention. They kept pressing the point

and praying and going on and on. I couldn’t wait to get out of there,”

she said. “I wanted to tell them that their God loves all of his

children, Christian or not, but I just kept quiet.”

My child was actually very composed, expressing her feelings on the

experience. I lost my temper.

This has happened to this child before, when she was very young and

went to Sunday school with another friend, also a great kid from a nice

family. The same thing happened in the first-grade classroom.

Only in the first grade, it was traumatic, and my child did not

understand. She was crying. Today, at 14, she has a grasp of the world

that is adult and civilized.

“How closed-minded, how very bigoted they are,” she added.

Indeed.

Seriously, let us analyze the real hate in society. It is not

exclusive to the Christians, the Jews, Muslims or anyone for that matter.

It is exclusive to those that exclude.

And, frankly, I am always offended by any religion that claims

exclusivity with God. There is a popular bumper sticker that reads: “God

is too big to fit into any one religion.” And any religion that is so

narrow-minded and small as to insist that God only loves those people

following that faith is sending a message of hate.

There are those who will disagree and cry foul. They will claim that

it is their duty to God to spread his word, to convert the nonbeliever to

his way. The only thing this course of action has managed to convert over

thousands of years is live people into dead people.

And it continues unchanged today. In the national arena, we witness

Israelis and Palestinians killing each another over an interpreted

affront by a staunch conservative Jew who stirred up Palestinian

hostility over Jewish control of their former territory.

In Costa Mesa, on the local front, a church group is pushing the

evangelical envelope to make its followers feel empowered by their

conviction, at the expense of human understanding and love of thy

neighbor.

Yet, it has sadly always been so. Even in times of harmony and peace

and in nations as glorious as this United States built on freedom of

religion, a veil of mistrust and hatred exists between Christian, Jew,

Muslim and other religions because we just do not share the same path to

God.

The funny thing is, all of these religions share the same Father. Like

in our own mortal families, this just does not seem to matter enough, as

the children fight among themselves for power and control.

The message of Jesus was one of reform at a time when the world was

consumed by hate, violence and greed. It was a normal occurrence on a

daily basis for the Romans to crucify any number of people for any number

of reasons. The streets were lined with the dead and dying.

And in the Jewish world of Jesus’ time, there was a great divide

between the haves and the have-nots trying to survive under Roman

authority. There was corruption and duplicity within the ranks of his own

people.

He wanted to heal the wounds, to make the wrongdoers and hatemongers

realize the enormity of God’s message to mankind to love one another, and

to treat one another with love, with respect and with dignity. The

disciples of Jesus, the creators of Christianity, have often lost the

message.

So, then, my child, who is being raised in a Jewish home but comes

from a loving family of mixed heritage, both Christian and Jewish, must

learn that hate exists in Costa Mesa, as it exists in Jerusalem and in so

many corners of the human map.

It may be up to each one of us to create the Messianic age that is

God’s desire for his children. How do we do it? One act, one day, one

person, one thought at a time. Let’s begin immediately.

* THE CROWD appears Thursdays and Saturdays.