Teach Hate No More

 Teach Hate no More

 

Folksingers of the ‘60’s urged teachers and all citizens to “teach war no more”.  The bible asks that we give up violence for peace.   Why is that a lesson humanity cannot learn?  

We spend huge amounts of money on war but very little to teach about peace. Then we are surprised when all the money spent on war does not bring peace.  Peace begins with the acceptance of difference among us.  We do not need to agree on the best way to worship God, nor even that there is a God that needs to be worshipped.  What we need to agree on is that we each have the right to our individual cultures and belief systems as long as the exercise of those beliefs do not put others at risk.

The first recorded hatred of others is 146 BC when a Roman Senator campaigned that Carthage must be destroyed.   In the last 100 years alone, over 12 genocides have been recognized recognized by historians. A genocide is an organized plan to extinguish an entire group of people.  And that does not begin to indicate the number of people who have been hurt on an individual and/or societal basis out of pure bigotry.   In our own country we have worked to destroy the Native American culture, segregated African Americans in all manner of ways, redlined people from living where they wish because of race or faith, confiscated property and required that Japanese-American citizens move to internment camps. Even today there are multiple artifacts that still reduce women's rights.  The war against women in Asia and the middle east continues unabated.  People seem willing to take up arms against those with differing political views and/or shades of difference in religious faith.

Is hatred of difference built into our DNA?  Why over this long history of recorded time can’t we move past this uncomfortableness with difference?

Our only hope is if we change the educational experience for our children and that begins with the teachers.   School systems across the country are being polarized to only teach history that fits the comfort zone.  We need to know how we have gone wrong so we can turn the ship around and do right.   Educators need to get a backbone and take responsibility for what we are teaching.   Education is really the only hope.  But educators have always been sheep.  Perhaps if we could get a decent herder the rest would follow and we would teach hate no more.