I once had a teacher who was devoted to her occupation but believed that being fiercely strict was the only way to keep order in the classroom. Her rules were firmly entrenched and she gave no thought to situations that should have required exceptions. She truly seemed to believe that her ways of doing things were fair and justified but those of us in her care learned to fear her more than admire her. It was a long difficult year in her classroom where cruelty reared its ugly head over and over again.

I understand that some people actually crave order and design in their lives. They see toughness as a kind of mechanism for safety and assurance that no one group or person gets special treatment. They set out rules that are hard and fast based on their on beliefs about what should be allowed and what should be punished. They use those guidelines for judging behaviors that seem out of line with the norm. They quickly go after the people in their midst that they do not understand without any attempt to accept that there are many different ways of living. They believe that they have found the key to a good life and insist that everyone follow their dictums. They have little patience for deviance from their personal norms and even seem to believe that they are actually doing everyone a favor by showing them what is the best way to live together in harmony. 

Sadly such rigidity inevitably borders on cruelty. It becomes the avenue for taking the children of Native Americans from their families in attempts to turn the little ones into “white men and women.” It justifies enslaving people from other cultures while believing that doing so actually makes their lives better than they may otherwise have been. It ends with whole groups being held in detention centers out of fears that they may be enemies of the state. It demonizes members of the LGBTQ community insisting that they are broken individuals. It is all too often based on fears of anyone or any group that is different and focuses on an unwarranted need to keep them at bay.

Many people voted for Donald Trump because they believed that he is a tough guy who would protect them from whatever boogeymen that they feared. He has been a man of his word in going after entire groups that he and his voters think are creating major problems for our nation. In the process he has created a kind of pecking order of classification that is dangerously cruel and prone to fomenting unjustified fear for Americans who are thought to be too different from the rest of us to earn a place in our midst. 

Cruelty motivates references to every person from Somalia as “garbage.” Immigrants from third world countries are universally ruled as drains on society. People are viewed not as individuals but as problems as a group. Women are called piggies and insulted for daring to boldly ask questions. Trans people are denied the right to be who they are and made to be monsters among us. People on boats are being blown out of the water and killed without due process to determine if they are truly drug dealers attempting to bring dangerous substances into our country. Often theses kinds of injustices are being bolstered by tying them to religious beliefs that have literally perverted the words and teachings of Jesus. 

The dangers of such racist, sexist and sordid thinking are affecting far too many souls who are now living daily in fear. Their rights as humans are being violated by Trump and his lackeys with total disregard for the worth of every person regardless of where they were born and how they look. The growing cruelty is alarming, particularly when our president stays awake at night posting ugly screeds about those that he hopes to punish. 

We have reached a tipping point, a watershed moment. If we do not condemn the cruelty that we are witnessing loudly and continually then we become complicit in the destruction that it is creating. It is all too easy to just sit back and assert that none of what is happening has anything to do with our own lives. In my own case it would be so much more comfortable to just be thankful that I have not been personally affected by the ugliness and probably never will be. In spite of being part of the favored group I know that I cannot just sit passively saying nothing when a fellow human is suffering anywhere. 

It is long past time for each of us to protect and defend the people whose lives are being so brutally attacked by our president and his cabinet of fools. We are not school children subject to the ugly whims of an unkind teacher. We cannot sit silently when we see cruel attacks on anyone. Some have already marched. Some have written to their Congresspersons. Some have voted against the current regime. There is still so much more to be done. Our voices must drown the ugliness and put a stop to the cruelty. Together we can do it. 

It is the season in which so many religions remind us of our responsibilities to all of humanity. Love in not cruel. Love is kind. Now is a wonderful time to join those who are already doing all that they can to set things right. Truly being tough means respecting everyone and stopping the bullies from hurting others. I think that Jesus showed us again and again that love, not hate, makes a better world for us all.