More on bad guys, which was the topic of my sermon this week.
We are taught as children to separate people. The good guys are usually the people “like us” and the bad guys are always “different.” I think of westerns and Disney movies. Bad guys always look bad, sinister, scary. But so much of the reason why they look bad is because we have been taught to fear that “look”.
Cowboys and Indians are a good example. Cowboys were white, and whatever their behavior, however extreme, it was always justified in the story. Indigenous people always spoke a language we didn’t understand, always were portrayed as backward and uncivilized. Until recently they were rarely offered any sympathy or justification. And by now people are so culturally formed in those unhelpful, racist images, it is hard to even realize the bias.
White people have been taught to fear dark skin, disability, people with body types or injuries that set them apart. And I will say again, I have been taught this. We have been taught that if someone could be seen as different, they are probably bad.
White people have also been taught that the values we grew up with are worth defending. They might encourage an individualistic, might-makes-right, self-centered view of the world. But we have held them so long we don’t question it. And if we have a bad guy, someone who might ask uncomfortable questions about our choices, that distraction is enough not to have to deal with truth or justice or compassion.
All of us need to pay attention when we identify someone as bad or the enemy. We need to ask ourselves to look deeper into why. What are we afraid of, what makes us uncomfortable? Why is it so important that this person is bad? How does it benefit us to have an enemy? Safety aside, why have an enemy?
In these trying times we are so much more alike than different. We all experience grief and sorrow, hopes and dreams. We all need to find the connections and support one another. We are called to recognize everyone’s belovedness, just as God does.