12 February 2000
Lyle Meece
Sometimes things happen for a reason.
I am not sure how I want to start this. There is a local man in town who is an avowed White Supremacist. I have followed his career for over ten years now. Not necessarily because I wanted to but because he was there. When he first started out he was not a big deal and I thought that he and the media hype surrounding him would go away. It didn't. The media being the pimps that they are kept giving him more and more of his "fifteen minutes of fame". He loved it and started doing more and more outrageous things to stay in the news. Now, I do believe that this man is sincere in his beliefs. Although I don't believe in his beliefs, in any way, shape or fashion, I do believe in his right to have them. He held a "rally” in my town some ten years ago, and I and a good friend went to hear what he had to say. My friend asked me why I would care what he had to say anyway. I told him that people didn't listen to Adolf Hitler until it was to late, and he agreed to go. We went and heard what he had to say and it was pretty much what we figured. In our opinions pretty much trash. Most of his "followers" seem to be people who would join any club that would have them. They seemed to be the type of people who blame the world for all their problems. I know that this is a prejudgment on my part, but that is what appeared to be. This young man also felt that Hitler was a hero and the Holocaust never accrued. At the time I took it as a personal offense. My father served in WWII and was shot by the Nazi, he also personally saw some of the horrors that the Nazi's committed. Over the years I would see this young man from time to time on TV or in the paper spewing his venom forth. Somewhere along the line he became a "Minister". I have to admit at this point, I was really starting to hate this man. I would see him from time to time in my home town. He would be buying groceries or picking up his mail. When ever I would see him, I would feel rage and hatred. I wanted to pounce on him and tell him how wrong he was. Writing this makes me see the futility of such an act. I have participated in a "Hatred doesn’t play in our Town" march. It was to counter some of his publicity.
I had an encounter with a Buddhist Monk. And in this encounter I started looking at things differently. I started studying the tenants of Buddhism. I also read a book called, "Living Buddha, Living Christ". This book made me explore the teachings of Jesus much closer. I also thought how this applied to the young man. In Buddhism, one vows not to get caught up in the sufferings of others. And I believe that he is suffering and he is causing suffering. I took a vow not to get caught up in his suffering. I have had the opportunity to talk about this man with many of my friends and acquaintances. Some of them said he should be killed, and that they would like to kill him. Many people actually hate him for his beliefs. I think that this is being caught up in his suffering. They have become apart of the hate. I know that you can not overcome hate with hate. That is like trying to overcome the darkness with more darkness.
Now to the beginning of this, sometimes things happen for a reason. Actually everything happens for a reason. I walked into the Post Office in East Peoria, I could have easily went to several other branches but this day I choose the East Peoria one, even though it was slightly out of my way. When I walked in I looked over at one of the counters and there he was! Minding his own business and doing some mailing. It hit me like a bolt of lighting. I felt my anger rising. I also felt my fear. I wanted to turn and leave. I wanted to curse at him. I wanted to ignore him. He was just minding his own business, and I saw him in a different light. Something inside of me, a small still voice, told me to speak to him. I thought no way, speak to him? Maybe spit at him, but never speak to him. The next thing I know, I was standing in front of him. I excused myself for the intrusion, and then I introduced myself. I said, "I don't believe in your philosophy, but I do believe in your right to have it". He smiled and shook my hand. And he thanked me for saying that. I reiterated that I did not believe in his philosophy at all, but this country was built on differences. And the right to have differences. He agreed. On one of his many TV interviews he pointed out that all of the people who didn't like him spoke of tolerance, but they were intolerant of his views. I had to agree with him on that point. Again we shook hands. Before I left I told him that when I first saw him there I was upset. But I felt the urge to acknowledge him as a fellow human being. He said that he appreciated that also. As I was leaving I realized for the first time I looked at his as a human being. Not the monster I had imagined him to be. There was something about being face to face, shaking hands, smiling at each other. For that moment we were not enemies, with opposing philosophical views. Just two humans who wish to be understood. And for a very brief moment we were. We found some common ground. As I was driving home, a Christian tenant from the Bible came to mind. Hate the Sin, but love the sinner. Do I love him?
Well, if not hating someone means loving them then yes. Will we ever be friends? I don't know. Could we be friends and have two totally different points of views? Maybe. As I am writing this I keep thinking of what Jesus said, "love your enemies". If I love my enemies, then how can they be my enemies? Does this mean that I am better then someone who would not have offered their hand in peace? No, not at all. I think that I do have an obligation to try and practice what I have been studying. I think my friend the Monk would approve of this. One of the things he does is encourage dialogue. It is a much better way of dealing with our differences.