Hatred being used for political gain

In murdering nine black Christians in Charleston, SC, a 21 year-old gunman claimed he hoped the massacre would start a race war. But instead he sparked something else: Christian forgiveness from the victims’ families and a promise that love would prevail. No riots, no looting, just mercy.

In contrast, President Obama, Hillary Clinton, and other leftists wasted no time exploiting the tragedy in the name of their own race war and used it to renew the call for tighter gun control. It’s interesting how today’s Christians are the ones considered hateful, when true hatred in the form of mass murder is used as a convenient tool for political gain.

Since promising to fundamentally transform America before taking office in 2009, Obama has actively worked at doing so, often by using race as a flashpoint to divide Americans. From Trayvon Martin to Michael Brown and others, Obama has used highly publicized incidents to exacerbate racial tensions, quick to blame any incident involving a black “victim” and non-black “offender” on racism, despite no proof of racism.

The fact that the Charleston murderer is a self-proclaimed racist dovetails nicely with Obama’s insulting claim last week that racism is in America’s DNA. In other words, according to our president, there is no changing us. We are hateful, bigoted people by nature. Where’s the hope in that?

Worse, in a complete show of disrespect to the black Christians brutally murdered, just days afterward Obama used the "N-word" in a speech, implying that just because people might not use it in public, doesn't mean they're not racist. Translation: they still use it in private and, therefore, are disgusting racists. What on earth...?

Barack Obama has taken us back to racial animosity and bitterness like no other president. In fact a recent CNN/ORC survey found that 84% of Americans feel race relations are worse since Obama took office. Instead of making our country more color blind, he has color coded it. He has poured gasoline on smoldering racial division and helped create the abyss across which black and white citizens now stare at each other with increasing anger, mistrust and incomprehension. 

As for other incidents, such as Sandy Hook, the Colorado theater shootings, etc., the president can’t claim racism, so must trot out his other favorite scapegoat, guns, and his desire to make it harder for law-abiding citizens to have them.

It doesn’t matter to the Left, though, that gun laws don’t keep people like the Charleston murderer from inflicting evil on others. It doesn’t sink in that where gun laws are most strict, such as in D.C. and Chicago, gun crimes are the most rampant.

What the Left cannot accept is that there are and always will be people who are very unstable, disturbed, or just plain evil, and they will continue to murder and hurt others, with or without guns. No gun law will ever fix that. But maybe a spiritual renewal in our country could help.

Instead of blaming racism or guns, maybe we should focus more on how to live moral lives. Perhaps we should look at the impact that divorce, violent videogames, pornography, and a culture that devalues unborn life has on people. Maybe we should consider how a progressive society that fights so hard to remove God and denounce Christianity can backfire, producing people who see no value in anything or anyone at all beyond their own self interests.

Commenting on the Charleston massacre, Obama said “there is something particularly heartbreaking about a death happening in a place in which we seek peace,” referring to the church where the murders occurred. True, but it’s an awkward proclamation from a president who has exhibited outright hostility toward Christians since taking office.

From forcing Christian taxpayers to fund the major abortion mill, Planned Parenthood (which, by the way, was founded specifically to “weed out” the black race), to making Christians pay for abortifacients through Obamacare; from supporting the crackdown on prayer and religious services in our military, to comparing Christians to ISIS terrorists, Obama can hardly claim a loving affinity with Christianity in America. As for the true Christianity exemplified by the Charleston victims’ loved ones, I’m not sure the president knows what to do with that, but perhaps it will change some hearts of those currently riding the “Christians-are-hateful” bandwagon.

What’s particularly surprising about this case is how seemingly willing our president and others are to ignore the obvious in favor of fanning the flames of racism. Murdering nine Christians at Bible study was the mark of a psychotically disturbed loner. But the ridiculous solution being put forth is to remove public displays of the Confederate flag, as though symbols incite people to commit mass homicide.

Rather, maybe we should consider the fact that the gunman was on the prescription drug Suboxone, reported by its users to cause extreme agitation and outbursts. In fact, the perpetrators of several heinous mass shootings in recent years, including Sandy Hook, Aurora, CO, Virginia tech and Columbine, were all on some form of psychotropic drug. This is completely ignored, however. Instead our president and presidential hopeful, Hillary, prefer to exploit crime to divide people and justify bigger government.

It’s gratifying though to see that the good people of South Carolina are not falling for it. Church bells across Charleston tolled in unity this past week for the victims, while strangers, black and white, joined hands in prayer and mourning. And unlike the rioters of Ferguson, MO, and Baltimore, MD, thousands from all races gathered on Charleston’s Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge in a peaceful expression of solidarity in response to the murderous rampage of a self-proclaimed racist. Whether everyone standing on that bridge was actually Christian or not, they exhibited the true Christian traits of peace, forgiveness and love.

None of this means criminal perpetrators should be let off the hook of course. But it does mean evil must be recognized for what it is and not used for political gain or to incite disharmony and distrust among Americans. In fact, imagine if our current leadership were to follow the loving example set forth by Christians who forgave a murderer, despite their agonizing pain. If we truly want healing and unity in America, it seems love, not inflammatory rhetoric, would be a good place to start.