The Politics of Hate.

"If you don't have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare voters."
Just about anyone with a pulse can probably guess - this is a quote from Barack Obama's acceptance speech last night.

"Abortion is a sacrament in their religion." Can you guess who said this today? They were referring to Democrats and "liberals". Rush Limbaugh. The right wing hate machine is alive and
well and churning out reams of these statements. With just 67 days until the election, they are in a full lather. I wonder, what purpose does it serve?

How are the American people served by rants about their fellow Americans that are filled with spite and loathing. How is America served, as a country, by maligning well, at least 50% of the population? What will be gained? And where will it lead us?

Where are we, when, in this country, there is a loud consistent voice trying to teach Americans to hate each other? I'm struggling with the idea that my fellow citizens have learned to HATE me because of my beliefs. But sadly, its true.

Many people have been preyed upon. 9/11 shook America to its core. We united and looked to our president for strength and guidance. We looked for leadership, and some kind of hope. We got more fear mongering, a war that didn't even pursue the people who attacked us and encouragement to "go shop". We faced an even larger and more daunting war in 1941. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, our democratic president, didn't tell people to shop. He told the American people it would take all of us to overcome what we were facing.

I honestly don't know the answer to all these questions. But I believe, all of us, as Americans should be concerned and consider the danger that this line of thinking represents. I'm not one to quote evangelicals, but recently, something that Rick Warren, the Paster of Saddleback Church said really struck me. He was talking about the politics of hate and the demonization tactics used by far too many political operatives in this country. He said he had seen these tactics used in other parts of the world. He finished he statement by adding, that when he had seen this approach of dehumanization, and vilification of an opponent, it was commonly followed by genocide.

It's time to turn off folks like Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly and Hannity. And its definitely time to turn away from anyone, anywhere who tries to tell you to hate other Americans because their beliefs are different from yours.