What Answer?  What Problem?  What am I talking about?   The Problem of Hate in America!   My title may have turned some off, and your disdain for Country Music will prevent you from hearing my arguments.   That is true in every segment of life; our dislike for something or someone blocks our willingness to listen.

I contend that this postulation has as much validity as many of the processes through which politicians attempt to solve problems.  There is a song by Johnny Lee that was released in June of 1980 and is entitled “Lookin’ For Love.”   The plight was a lonely man looking for his perfect woman, and the chorus declares, “I was lookin’ for love in all the wrong places…”  

The world has a Love Problem, which is reflected in a Hate Problem, which is demonstrated in vindictiveness, violence, and deception.   But we keep looking for love in all the wrong places and continue to live in a world filled with hatred, violence, distrust, and diabolical devices.   We remain in our state of loneliness and unloved. 

From time to time, I go back and listen to and read some of the campaign rhetoric politicians offer.   It is sometimes humorous until the seriousness of the matter slaps me in the face.  If we were to take at face value what they say, we would realize a stunning truth.   They’re either ridiculously naïve regarding what causes people, ideologies, and nations to show compassion, tolerance, and love, or they think we are. 

I did say “if”.   Politicians, like many today, seem to think that the answer is the flowery words, utopian ideas, and seeming tolerance.   It appears that much of our society believes that Love is simply that warm, fuzzy feeling based on an emotional response or stimulus.  If the politician is articulate and charismatic, many swoon over them like they were Rock Stars!

I do not believe that Love is an emotional response or physical drawing, but a commitment and covenant.   I believe that love is a decision that, when cultivated, grows and becomes strong, undeterred by momentary outside happenings. 

I made a commitment to my wife when I asked her to marry me, which is found in the words of Job.  “I have made a covenant with my eyes: Why then should I look upon a young woman?”   My commitment was “she would be my one and only.” 

I made that choice based on what I felt was God’s leading, blending us together, and that she was and would be the love of my life.   Our new journey has not had the time to experience the stormy weather that often comes to relationships, but we have made the commitment to Love each other through it all.   Love is the choice we have made, and it grows stronger each day.

Hate is born when love is absent.  I am not talking about romantic love.   If we realized that we are human beings and members of the same race (human).  That means that we are brothers and sisters. 

Hate is strengthened by emotions, and if allowed to take root, it becomes so powerful that it makes it impossible to tolerate anyone or anything that is contrary to the hater’s ideology.  Hate is learned and, in truth, is a choice, as is love, but it is fueled by the visual and emotional.  Some will argue that love is as well, but that is not love but lust. 

In my years of Christian ministry, I have been called upon to address relationship difficulties and frequently would find that some young woman or man expressing the thought that “if they just…” all would be okay.   If they just agreed blindly.  If they just adopted a proposed lifestyle.  If they just allowed themselves to be abused, the other person would love them, and in so doing, they could change their partner. 

That is a false hope and one that usually produces contempt, not love.  The same is true in dealing with nations and peoples of the world.  If we seek to appease others, we may temporarily have a cessation of conflict, but it will not last because appeasing plants the seed of contempt.  The image presented is one of weakness and being weak-willed, which leads to abuse.  We keep looking for love in all the wrong places and through the wrong actions.  

Islamic Jihad is hate-based, not love-based.   One might argue that they are acting out of love for their faith and their god, but are they?  It is impossible to force anyone to love.   Those who have chosen to hate us will not love us because we tolerate their hatred; instead, they will hate us more. 

There are times in personal relationships when one must administer “tough love” and refuse to tolerate unacceptable behavior.  God’s unwillingness to wink at sin is not evidence that He does not love us, but the opposite.  A parent’s unwillingness to allow disruptive and destructive behavior in their children is not an evidence of the lack of love but a demonstration of love. 

The many tensions in existence within and between various sectors of our society will not be resolved by a false concept of love and hate.  Love is honest, and until we are willing to honestly, for all sides, face the issues in our society and world, we will continue “Lookin’ for love in all the wrong places…” and the world will grow darker and more dangerous. 

We need leaders who are willing to honestly face the difficult problems with honest and realistic responses.  We need leaders who will follow the constitution and rule of law, not subvert it for the sake of appeasing particular sects for political purposes.  We need leaders who consider their office a “public service,” not a “coronation to regality.” 

Let’s stop “Lookin’ for love in all the wrong places…” and begin looking within our own hearts and deal with the one person we have control over – US. 

May God bless you and may He bless America again and lead us out of this darkness into the light.