The title of this article is the same as my plea to our family pet, Peanut. She has appointed herself Security Chief and meets visitors with her rude yapping. We wish she would behave better.
May I be so bold as to suggest that we do the same—fewer hurtful comments and more gentleness instead?
Examples from American history show how cruel words have led to destructive events. In the middle 1800’s, the issue of slavery was debated, usually quite vigorously and passionately. Senator Charles Sumner from Massachusetts was unrelenting in his opposition to slavery. Representative Preston Brooks of South Carolina was equally persistent in support of slavery (Gene Smith, High Crimes & Misdemeanors, The Impeachment and Trial of Andrew Johnson, New York: William Morrow and Company, 1977, pps. 10-18).
One of Sumner’s speeches in the Senate chamber especially angered Brooks. He carefully planned his way to get even. When the Senator was sitting at his desk in the Capitol, answering letters, Brooks approached him. With his thick gold-headed cane, Brooks beat the surprised and defenseless Sumner nearly to death. It was four years before he recovered enough to return to the Senate (Smith, pps. 1922).
Hundreds of Southerners sent replica canes to Representative Brooks, many inscribed with, “Hit him again” (billsofrightrsinstitute. org/essays/ charles-sumner-andpreston- brooks).
“One of the most shocking and provocative events in American history, the caning convinced both sides the gulf [slavery issue] between them was unbridgeable” (billsofrightsinstitute).
The Civil War was an amplification of the incident between Brooks and Sumner.
As we approach Election Day, we are saturated with outlandish statements designed to create fear and even hatred of some groups. During the debate with Harris, we heard Trump say this about the Haitians, “They’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there, and this is what’s happening in our country, and it’s a shame.”
A simple fact-checking lets us know the Haitians are in Springfield, Ohio, legally and work hard (nbcnews. com/investigations/ biden-admin-gives-protected- status-309000-haitiansrena159438).
Creating fear and hatred toward helpless people is an effective method used by unscrupulous leaders to manipulate their followers. This has been true for as long as we have recorded history.
Ohio’s governor and the mayor of Springfield have repeatedly debunked those outlandish lies about Haitians eating pets, but some still repeat them. VP Candidate J. D. Vance said, “If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of American people then that’s what I will do” (usatoday.com/ story/news/politics/elections/ 2024/09/15/jd-vancecreate- stories-migrants-eating- pets/75236975007/).
Have Vance and Trump forgotten one of the Ten Commandments, “Thou shall not bear false witness?”
The city of Springfield underwent a serious decline during the past decades. Businesses closed, resulting in high unemployment. City leaders worked to bring in new factories, warehouses, construction, and other businesses. Springfield needed workers and welcomed the Haitians, most of whom have families.
Schools that Haitian children attend have closed because of bomb threats, as have city offices and other public buildings. The fear generated among blameless children and families, in my view, is heartbreaking. As a Christian, I am dismayed that anyone would deliberately spread falsehoods for political gain, with no concern for how many they hurt.
Instead of the “barking,” we need more “wagging,” such as following the Golden Rule and treating others as we wish to be treated. We should read again Moses’ statement of what God commanded: “When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 19:33 NIV).
That principle of treating others with empathy and compassion is made unmistakably clear when Jesus says, “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick, and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me” (Matthew 26:35-36, NIV).
Jesus says that when we do those things, we do them to Him, and if we refuse, we are rejecting Him. He gives no exceptions for skin color, language, national origin, social status, or any other excuses offered by some people.
When you hear a politician saying, “America is terrible and getting worse,” remember these things: Immigrants did not shutter hospitals in rural areas. They did not kill family farms and cause the exodus of rural Americans to the cities. Immigrants did not send manufacturing jobs overseas or cause the decay of our infrastructures. Their willingness to work at menial, backbreaking jobs is essential for America’s agriculture, construction, and the service industry’s prosperity.
If Trump were to send all immigrants back to their homelands, our grocery shelves would be bare in short order. Someone noted, “If you want to send them all away, just remember, it is not polite to talk with your mouth full.”
“We stand at what may be the most dangerous moment for American democracy since the Civil War,” said Tom Schaller and Paul Waldman in their recent book (Tom Schaller and Paul Waldman, White Rural Rage, The Threat to American Democracy, New York: Random House, 2024, p.4).
I call for calm. I plead for peace. When you hear fiery rhetoric designed to instill fear and hatred, remember my admonition to Peanut: “Less Barking [creating fear], More Wagging [showing empathy and valuing others as fellow humans]”.