I’m an expert in following bad diets that fail. My waistline is the proof.

Our civilization is following a bad diet of hatred, racism and violence. The epidemic of violence is the proof.

The recent race massacre in a supermarket in Buffalo, New York took place only a few miles from where I worked in Buffalo until I retired a few years ago. The shooter allegedly worships White Christian Nationalism.

This brutal massacre—and the brutal violence arising from the Russian invasion of Ukraine caused by Putin’s worship of Russian Christian Nationalism—made me think of the story of Noah:

The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time . . . [T]he earth was corrupt in God’s sight and full of violence. (Genesis 6:5,11-14).

Fortunately, Noah remained righteous. He “did all that the LORD commanded him.” And so, God used Noah to save Humanity. (Genesis 6:10,22; 9:1,7).

How can we remain righteous despite the wickedness and evil thoughts that surround us?

How can we do all that the LORD commands us?

How can we withstand the epidemic of hatred, racism and violence that is becoming an overwhelming flood that threatens to destroy all Humanity and the good, good Earth that God gave us?

We need to stop feeding hatred, racism and violence.

Instead, we need to feed “good food” to ourselves and all Humanity.

What is this good food?

The Way of Wisdom.  (Romans 2:14-15).

The Way of Jesus. (Matthew 5:17; 7:24-8-3).

The Way of “the LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, . . . abounding in love and faithfulness.” (Exodus 34:6-7).

Why do my diets fail?

Too often I only try to limit my eating of bad foods. I think to myself, “I’ll only take one piece of chocolate. I’ll only eat a few potato chips.”

But once I start feeding my craving for junk foods, my cravings only get worse.

Similarly, some people—including many politicians and religious leaders—think they can get away with just a little hatred, just a little racism, and just a little violence.

They speak in euphemisms—in dog whistles and memes—that stoke the fires of hatred, racism and violence. Then they feign surprise and horror that their words and incitements grew into an overwhelming flood of hatred, racism and violence.

Or, they think they can get away by remaining silent as hatred, racism and violence grow. (See “The Letter from Birmingham Jail” by the martyr, Martin Luther King, Jr., and The Cost of Discipleship by the martyr, Dietrich Bonhoeffer.)

The key to a successful diet is to learn to crave healthy foods. When low blood sugar hits in the middle of the afternoon, do not munch on potato chips. Enjoy an apple.

To be sure, there will always be some people who make unhealthy choices. There will always be some people who crave hatred, racism and violence.

But at a minimum, we shouldn’t be constantly reminding people how much they want “potato chips” by inundating them with advertisements, tempting photos, and tempting displays in stores that look and smell so good. Instead, we should be teaching and reminding people that junk foods are bad for their health.

Similarly, we shouldn’t allow the use of social media to incite violence by spewing forth hatred and racism.

And we should resist any effort to suppress education about how bad hatred, racism and violence are. For example, we should oppose any efforts by schools to ignore or downplay examples of past and present laws and customs that glorify and support hatred, racism and violence.

Instead, we should support systems of laws, customs and education that decrease hatred, racism and violence while increasing compassion and love.

As I discuss in my blog “Spilling Coffee”, there will always be people (including me) who spill their coffee. But by choosing to put coffee in a larger cup whose sides curve inward near the top, we can vastly reduce the amount of “spilled coffee”.

Similarly, we need to shape our laws and customs in ways that reduce hatred, racism and violence while increasing compassion and love.

We need to do all that the LORD God commands us.

Every inclination of our hearts must not be evil all the time, but good.

As the Apostle Paul taught: we should think about—and put into practice—“whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable; [whatever] is excellent and praiseworthy.” (Philippians 4:8-9).

In this Way of Wisdom, in this Way of Jesus, in this Way of the LORD: may the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts, be pleasing in thy sight, O LORD, our Strength and our Redeemer. (Psalm 19:14).

READ MORE

For my thoughts about the dangers of nationalism—including White Christian Nationalism such as that allegedly worshipped by the shooter who massacred people at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York—please read my blogs “Nationalism is Patriotism Gone Astray”, “Racism is America Gone Astray”, and “The 500-Year Marathon To Overcome Racism”.

For more of my thoughts against hatred, racism and violence, please read my book Visions of America.

For more of my thoughts about the need for systems of laws and customs to combat hatred, racism and violence, please read my blogs “Spilling Coffee”, “Individuals and Systems, Now and Forever, One and Inseparable”, and “The Webb Space Telescope: Many Parts, One System”.