Definition (Haters)

Abraham Lincoln once said that calling the tail of a dog a leg does not make it a leg. There are factions within our society who villainize others who disagree with their viewpoint. This is not a logical nor reasonable response to disagreement. Doctors have for years warned against smoking cigarettes. And, to be honest, some doctors literally hate cigarettes. And I do too. They stink. Are those doctors “haters or bigots” because they disagree with some peoples’ choice of recreation?

How about those who actively oppose and even arrest excessive and illegal opioid users. In fact, they claim to be doing it for the health of the targets. Is this hatred or bigotry?

A quick internet search for “life expectancy of homosexuals” will uncover page after page of documents. There is some controversy, but the overwhelming majority suggests at least a tenuous link between shorter life spans and what was formerly considered aberrant behavior. So does the person who warns against such activity a “hater,” or someone suggesting a different course of action for the good of the subject? Is being an enabler for such activities really expressing a loving spirit or a callous one? The doctors who counsel against cigarettes or illegal drugs are not doing it to punish or hurt the people involved. They are suggesting a healthy course of life.

If I stand beside the road with a submerged underpass farther ahead and wave merrily and wish a good trip to the cars barreling past, am I showing love? Or if I wave my arms in alarm to attract attention and divert them onto a different route, am I bigoted or hateful?

Interestingly enough, these new viewpoints oppose those held by most societies for thousands of years. Now some wish to change the norm and resort to name calling. Just as calling an appendage something other than which is normal, disagreeing with someone’s societal, philosophical, or theological position does not make them a hater or bigot. It merely points out how the “caller” is deviating from the norm.

The “Nashville Document” is not a hate-filled diatribe. It is a product of a concerned body of believers who can see “down the road” and are warning against a situation worse than a bridge out.

A tail is not a leg, and one who warns against disaster is not a bigot nor a hater.