On Hatred: The Dental Argument

I talked before, in a blog about Anger, how all the negative things that happen in our lives, if not properly dealt with, become a hardened core in the soul, effectively killing the person inside. I've always said that the shooter that went into Columbine High in Colorado was dead long before he actually killed himself. He no longer had a soul, his heart was merely a hard core of anger.

Think of all the negative things that happen in a person's life as the bacteria that forms in the mouth. All the name calling, the insults, the gay slurs posted online, the yelling of parents late at night, all of this, becomes like germs floating around in the brain, in the blood stream. Most people are able to relax, to balance it out with positive influences. They listen to music, they spend time with those that they love, they worship in church, letting God ease those dark times. There are those, however, that let the germs fester, forming, to follow the metaphor, plaque around the teeth, blackening the enamel, hollowing out the insides, making the body a delicate, painful, brittle thing. The pain of a tooth that has been eaten away by plaque is unbearable (and I know from much experience). It's the same as the negativity that flows around in the soul. It becomes hardened, starts eating away at everything that is special and dear. Take the recent terrorists in Boston, they had promising careers, in medicine, sports, etc..., but were eaten away by all the negativity thrown at them from many different sources, not the least of which were the violent anti-American videos promoted by Muslim radicals. By the time they set those bombs at the Marathon, they were simply shells of that evil plaque. It is only by the grace of God that the younger one survived to allow us to know what was actually going on. It does show that maybe the younger brother still had a little soul left in him, something that might be salvageable  else he would have killed himself. (And I say that in total recognition that what he did with his brother was the act of pure evil, and he must receive the consequences of that. I only hope that he can be rescued, Saved (in the Christian sense of the word) before he dies or is executed. Only God can forgive him now.

Going back to evil as a germ, as bacteria, it is easily spread, from one person to another, by bullies at school, by the kids who throw gay slurs at nine year olds online, by anyone that hasn't washed those germs clean. And it's so important that we look out for it in our everyday lives. It's everywhere in society, and we don't even notice it sometimes. Go watch TMZ for an episode, or see the Reality TV shows where people stab each other in the back. Even the night talk shows, like Jay Leno, who insult Lindsay Lohan daily, are doing nothing but making that actress worse. The spiritual life and internal fortitude of those stars must be so strong to withstand the constant barrage of evil thrown at them every single day.

Go to Instagram, on the "popular" page, and pick out any picture of a person (a "selfie," they call it), and you'll see, among the useless cries of "I luv u!!!," girls who post "gay" or "go kill yourself." Then the supporters go after the "trolls," and a cursing war breaks out, all in front of children who don't need that in their lives. I've mentioned before Davis Cleveland, who withstood (and continues to deal with) a constant barrage of insults from people online. And while I know he's strong enough to ignore them and persue his dreams, I worry about the lingering effects of all this. So many child stars have grown up spiraling down into addictions, negative behavior, and some, even suicide (Jonathan Brandis, for instance), and many of them were stars well before the Internet. What effects will social media have on these actors as they mature and grow? The good part about Davis' life is that he has a solid Christian background, supportive parents, and friends both physical and online, that lift him up and provide that positive encouragement. I'm actually surprised in the many young actors now that are Christians, and I hope that God will carry them "through" the fires they face each day.