Generational Hate

The first time my eldest daughter went to children’s church during Sunday service, she learned a song declaring that Jesus loved the little ones like her. The week after, she learned Jesus loves the little children, then it was He’s got the whole world in His hands, and a few weeks later it was the B.I.B.L.E. that is the book for me.

To this day she still breaks out in spontaneous song, something she learned along with other children in a house of worship. Sometimes I join in, but most of the time I just listen to her singing with all the devotion and exuberance an almost five-year-old can muster.

Her enthusiasm makes up for the questionable pitch, and her smile is so broad as she belts out the latest song she learned, it’s contagious.

Never once, throughout the many children’s churches she attended did my daughter come home singing about cutting off people’s heads for Jesus, or subjecting the infidel to eternal torture. If she had, it would have been our last visit to that particular church, and I'd have something to say to the Sunday school teacher that would not involve a friendly tone.

In case you haven't seen it yet, a quick Google search will remedy the situation, and for the sake of context, it is worth seeing. A video has surfaced of children at an Islamic center in Philadelphia singing in concert, and if the subtitled translation of what they were singing weren't made available, your first thought might be, oh, how sweet.

Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, what they were singing in Arabic was subtitled in English, and that’s when you can’t help but feel the chill running down your spine, as you come to terms with the fact that these children are being taught generational hatred.

These children weren’t singing about love, or the birds, the bees and the apple trees, they weren’t singing about rainbows and lollipops, puppies and raindrops, they were singing about sacrificing themselves and killing for the Army of Allah, and cutting off the heads of Jews.

This wasn't some old VHS tape someone uncovered of some backward village in the foothills of Afghanistan. This was filmed recently in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA!

What is exceedingly gruesome about this entire thing is that not one parent stood up, grabbed their child, and walked out of the presentation. There was not one protest, not one outraged, incensed mother or father who objected to their child being taught to hate.

Love, affection, empathy, are all naturally occurring in man from the time they are born. A child will reach out and nuzzle your nose, or hug you, or press their cheek against yours, naturally. Hate, however, must be taught. Hate, pure hate, the kind of hate that can bring you to the place of trying to hack off someone's head with a rusty blade, must be taught, fostered, nurtured, and encouraged.

You must dehumanize the object of your hatred to the point that you do not see them as living, breathing, animated human beings, but something else. Something inferior. Something undeserving of breathing the same air as you.

This sort of blind hatred is being passed down from father to son, from mother to daughter, not only in third world countries in the Middle East, but even in places like Philadelphia, Dearborn, New York, Los Angeles, and the list goes on and on. There are even sitting members of the US Congress exhibiting the same sort of unbridled hatred.

Generational hatred is the worst kind of hate because it seeps deep into the marrow and is wholly irrational. You cannot reason with someone who has surrendered to irrationality. You can't tease out what is at the root cause of their blind hatred, because to them, it's like breathing. It is necessary, and it's just the way it is. Everyone I know, everyone I love, everyone I respect feels this way! How dare you insinuate it's wrong, or that I should feel any different?

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea Jr.