He hit first, he insulted me, he started it, and she started it. In any fight, we are always reluctant to claim our share of the blame. It starts out when we are kids and carries through the rest of our lives. The problem with this is we are never absolved of blame for a violent encounter, whether the medium is words or fists.
Even in the ancient Christians, persecuted by Nero, they did something that caused them to be targeted. They refused to worship him as a god. They defied his authority, and rightly so, in a very public and blatant way. There is always responsibility on both sides. This stands true, proven over the ages, sometimes it is beyond our control, like being a different color or a different gender. Other times it is not, like having a stubborn attitude or refusing to try to understand. In any case, we always need to recognize our share of the blame.
There is a prevalent example of this that is in the forefront of our brains with the recent developments in Charlottesville. I know some people have already tuned out, thinking they know what they are going to hear, or refusing to hear at all so they can “be right”. It was a tragedy that claimed the life of one person and the relationship between much more. But what came after the riot was over shocked me.
Several media sources The Unite the Right protestors were terrible, horrible, no good, very bad people who should be universally condemned by all, and the ANTIFA, were noble, martyred defenders of right thinking. This shocked me because I saw a video of people wearing shirts with ANTIFA embossed on them run up to a disabled veteran, mock him, take his water bottle and soak him with it. Is this noble? And this is only the beginning.
On both sides, there were things done that have no place in our “City on a Hill”. As long as we choose to remain blind to our faults we will never move beyond this infighting. We cannot afford this if we want to set the example for the rest of the world. “A house divided against itself cannot stand”, and right now we are divided. Each of us needs to be the bigger person and admit where we are wrong, claim responsibility for our faults and work to fix them. This is a time to draw together and stand strong. Not a time to continually fight against each other. We are one nation, under God, Indivisible, so let’s act like it.
I commit to fixing my flaws and owning up to them, even when it’s hard, will you join me?
Written by Aaron Weddle, Junior, Summit Christian Academy
Even in the ancient Christians, persecuted by Nero, they did something that caused them to be targeted. They refused to worship him as a god. They defied his authority, and rightly so, in a very public and blatant way. There is always responsibility on both sides. This stands true, proven over the ages, sometimes it is beyond our control, like being a different color or a different gender. Other times it is not, like having a stubborn attitude or refusing to try to understand. In any case, we always need to recognize our share of the blame.
There is a prevalent example of this that is in the forefront of our brains with the recent developments in Charlottesville. I know some people have already tuned out, thinking they know what they are going to hear, or refusing to hear at all so they can “be right”. It was a tragedy that claimed the life of one person and the relationship between much more. But what came after the riot was over shocked me.
Several media sources The Unite the Right protestors were terrible, horrible, no good, very bad people who should be universally condemned by all, and the ANTIFA, were noble, martyred defenders of right thinking. This shocked me because I saw a video of people wearing shirts with ANTIFA embossed on them run up to a disabled veteran, mock him, take his water bottle and soak him with it. Is this noble? And this is only the beginning.
On both sides, there were things done that have no place in our “City on a Hill”. As long as we choose to remain blind to our faults we will never move beyond this infighting. We cannot afford this if we want to set the example for the rest of the world. “A house divided against itself cannot stand”, and right now we are divided. Each of us needs to be the bigger person and admit where we are wrong, claim responsibility for our faults and work to fix them. This is a time to draw together and stand strong. Not a time to continually fight against each other. We are one nation, under God, Indivisible, so let’s act like it.
I commit to fixing my flaws and owning up to them, even when it’s hard, will you join me?
Written by Aaron Weddle, Junior, Summit Christian Academy
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