It seems like lately there have been a lot of horrible tragic events happening.
Assassinations, fighting, hatred about ideology, political outrage, bombings, world tension and more.
And it seems like this cycle of violence and evil just keeps on happening. Or at least we are more aware of it now.
The one thing that I have been really disappointed about is how our leaders and how a lot of people in general have been responding to these things.
A lot of the time right now, the response from people is to pick a side, try to prove how they are right and other people are wrong, and to declare a black and white “they are evil and we are not so they must be defeated” type of attitude.
I think this response is rooted in self righteousness and fear.
Especially fear of truly learning about other people that aren’t like you, acknowledging and being able to hold space in the depth of sadness and pain, and even taking responsibility for a culture in which these things occur.
These things do not happen in isolation. We are all connected to each other. The more we divide and push other people away that aren’t like us, the more this will build.
This goes for “Christians” too. A label means nothing. The only thing that matters is if we can love our neighbors. It doesn’t matter if we claim we are a Christian or think that we are good because we identify with a religion.
There has sometimes been a lack of an ability lately to bring love into these situations for healing and repair with the kind of cultural attitude being disseminated on a large scale.
The attitude of trying to figure out who was right or wrong or evil or good only perpetuates the division, hatred, violence, and hostility in society and the world.
That being said, I’d like to express my opinion on a few different topics around this issue.
A Spiritual Problem Not a “Person is Evil” Problem
The first thing that is important to understand is that someone doesn’t plan an assassination or get a gun and go kill someone without having some serious mental and personal issues.
We often forget that these violent and evil acts are most often the result of a cry for love and help in a life that feels dark, broken, and helpless.
It’s a sign that the world and society that we have created is not working in some way.
It could also be the case that the person is mentally ill and needs treatment and help.
The darkness that occurs is because someone does not feel the love and support of others in the world or they have not received the help that is necessary and so they do anything to gain attention and a way out of their misery.
It is their last resort as they don’t care if they live anymore or not.
Put yourself in a situation like that. It is sad and horrible. When people in positions of power tell them that they are lazy, incompetent, bad, a lunatic, deranged, or brag about how great they are and how dumb the person is, what do you think will happen?
My belief is that the person is not actually bad or evil but that they have become evil because they have not received the love and support they need in life and have been put down by others.
I personally see this as a spiritual problem in which we are all responsible as a society and world to help change over time by the way we interact with one another so that true love can drive out the darkness.
Taking Responsibility for Pride & Self Righteousness as a Leader
The society and world at large has leaders and people in power who influence how people live and respond to one another.
We all look at other people to determine how we will respond and the mindset we will take.
If a president like Donald Trump or Joe Biden consistently displays speech and acts of hatred, divisiveness, and self righteousness this will continue to grow in society because leaders make even bad qualities acceptable for others to take on.
If the qualities they are making acceptable do not create connection, love, and peace then we will not have connection, love, and peace.
The only example we should really be following on a large scale is the example of the Lord Jesus Christ and any other spiritual leaders around the world.
This is because Jesus and other spiritual leaders are focused on true love first and foremost and are not acting out of pride, ego, or selfish gain.
They do not need to maintain their position of power to build up their ego or control people.
Our leaders also need to take responsibility for events that occur and have a humble heart to understand that if something bad is happening they are also responsible for it.
Deflecting blame onto other people or continuing to divide people against each other in order to maintain a political position where you believe that only your way is good will not create healing in the world.
How Should We Respond to Horrible Events
When a horrible event occurs like the Charlie Kirk shooting the first response emotionally is usually pain, sadness, and anger about what occurred.
We need to allow these emotions of deep sadness, agony, hopelessness, and anger while we get support from others and work through them over time.
These situations are painful and suck. They take time to process. If we don’t allow space for these challenging emotions we will end up displacing them in a negative way on other people.
We also need to go to God in prayer, seek the support of the community, and allow the grief.
On a larger scale and with other people it is the duty of our leaders and us as a society to love our enemies and those who persecute us as we understand that evil, hatred, and division can only be changed and overcome with a response of true love.
If we decide to further blame, divide, associate the evil with one group of people and not the other, then we will perpetuate this sickness even more.
One of the clearest places this is talked about in the bible is in Matthew 5:43–44 where Jesus says:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
This teaching is part of the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus explains that love—not hatred—is the way of the Kingdom.
You also see this reinforced in Luke 6:27–28:
“But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”
And Paul echoes the same truth in Romans 12:21:
“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Together, these passages make it clear: hatred can’t defeat evil—it only multiplies it. Only love, prayer, unity, and blessing can break the cycle.
The bottom line is if you truly want peace on earth you MUST love your neighbors, enemies, and those who persecute you. This is not an option, it is the ONLY way to peace.
If you are someone who says “this can’t apply here” or “those people are just evil, we need to put them in their place” you are wrong and don’t have the courage to love.
It is more courageous to love people than to put up a stronghold against a party or group of people that has different beliefs than you.
What About Law, Order, and Holding People Accountable
The excuse I hear from people who don’t have the courage to love their neighbors is that those people are evil and evil needs to be punished or held accountable.
Again, it’s a view that they are so much better than these people, that there is no connection between them and us, and that these people just need to be eliminated somehow because they are corrupt.
Yes, I agree, we need laws and punishments for things that occur which are evil or break the law. This is a necessary part of having a healthy society and nation. People need to be held accountable.
Nobody is saying that people shouldn’t be held accountable for what they do. I would argue that 95% of the time people ARE held accountable.
And if in some way they get away with something that either breaks the law or harms society, if we believe in a God who knows all things and is the ultimate judge, they will be held accountable, no need to worry.
It is not our job to judge or punish people outside of our legal system that people have come together to agree on. This is God’s job.
So please, don’t use this talking point as a way to deflect responsibility from loving others.
The Difference Between Loving and Liking
I also think people get confused between the difference between loving someone and liking something.
You can still love someone and not like what they like, what they believe, or how they live their life.
Each person has unique interests, talents, and hobbies. It would be a pretty boring world if everyone was the same as you.
Loving someone really has nothing to do with whether you like what they like or not, even including political ideology.
In fact, it shows the depth of your love even more when you love people who have different interests or beliefs than you.
You probably won’t want to hangout with people who you have nothing in common with, but that’s not a big deal.
When you love someone, even if they have different beliefs and interests, you still want them to be happy, succeed, and enjoy their life even if that life does not cross paths with yours.
We love others who aren’t like us because we know that each person has been made in the image of God and each person has a beautiful true self that God knows by name.
Misunderstanding From Christians
It also seems that due to the influence of people in power, Christianity and the life and teachings of Jesus have been misunderstood in some ways.
These days I find the ideology from some circles of Christianity has become very isolated and divisive, especially when challenging events occur. People sometimes take the view that because we are “Christian” then people who aren’t are evil or bad and we must fight them.
Jesus did not come to create a group of people who isolate themselves from society based on a book and certain ideological views.
The whole point of his life and transmission of spirit was to show us what true love was (what God wanted for us) so that we could be blessed with His spirit and spread this to the ends of the earth in order to create a beautiful world where evil doesn’t corrupt things.
He came to enlighten us on what truth and love was so that we could move the world in a direction where there is enduring peace, love, success, and happiness amongst all of humanity as God intended for the world.
We “fight” evil and darkness with the spirit of love that was given and shown to us by Jesus.
We don’t fight evil by dividing against views, isolating people, blaming others, and telling other people they are bad or evil. We don’t fight evil with hatred, only love can defeat evil.
This applies even when responding to horrible events.
It is true that evil that is inside other people will rebel and be triggered by love. It won’t go down without a fight. But what people are missing is that we fight this spiritual reality by loving others and being strong in the love of God.
People misunderstand sometimes and think that hatred, punishment, and control will defeat evil.
It hasn’t so far.
It’s also the fact that Christians are no different than anyone else besides the fact that they may have been fortunate enough to have been blessed and guided by someone who knew God’s love and gave that to them.
At the end of the day, the only true signal of someone being a “Christian” is if they know and do their best to live out of the true love that Jesus showed us.
Concluding Thoughts
To be honest, I have been a little frustrated with the response from world and national leaders when tragic and horrific events occur lately.
I long for a world and nation where people can love each other and work together to bring peace, success, and unity amongst all people no matter the race, religion, or ideology.
I believe we are all in this together and that we won’t have enduring peace until we accept and love all parts of our society.
I believe that Christianity was not meant to be another ideology or group that isolates and divides itself against others but a movement that was born out of true love for all people no matter the religion or identity.
And I also believe that we become better, stronger, more loving people when we learn from others who are different from us, embrace the good in everything, and find ways to work through disagreement and anger with patience and humility.
I hope that we would grow stronger in the love of God to be people who can truly love our enemies and neighbors so that we can move the nation and the world in a direction where love drives out evil and hatred, changing lives and building bridges.
A world where people in power serve with a humble heart and disseminate peace and security with the goal of uniting instead of dividing.
