Ideologies Built on Hatred Cannot Tolerate Love
Daniel Ross
Dan is a good friend of mine, we went to seminary together. When his family is in Orlando we always see them. Knowing what Dan went though in 22’-23’makes this a powerful read. - Pastor Criss
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April 17, 2025 is Maundy Thursday. Maundy comes from the Latin word for "mandate", meaning "command". After washing His disciples feet Jesus tells them, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Since 2022 I have meditated much over these words of my Lord as it was then I stumbled into the beginnings of the Woke Right’s haphazard attempted foolish take over of my church body and helped to stop it. I am a member of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. I was formed as a pastor when the perceived primary threat to the faith was the post-Christian "Woke Left." As such, it was a shock at the suddenness of the rise of the post-Christian "Woke Right" (also referred to as the alt-right or dissident right). It was a larger shock that the post-Christian "Woke Right" seeks to take over conservative church bodies. Why would a group that detests Christian norms and values want to be associated with the church? Simple: power, fear, resentment.
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Power because they seek to impose their will on anyone and anything. The "Woke Right" and "Woke Left" seek to control everything. So they both must control as many institutions as possible to do so.
Resentment because much of the "Woke Right" is built upon hating their parents and grandparents. The "Woke" ideologies are peopled primarily by younger generations. And these younger generations do not like their parents and grandparents. All the world's problems are blamed on older generations. Boomers get their special ire. So they seek to destroy anything their parents have made or been a part of - so as to remake it in their image.
And finally, fear. Why fear? Christianity exposes the bankruptcy of the ideology. Christianity calls on people to love their neighbor, to love their enemy, to forgive, to take care of one another (those who are near and those who are far), to see the value of the shared common humanity in one another, to recognize the image of God in the other person. In short, Christianity has no tolerance for hatred. "Hate the sin, love the sinner." You can find that sentiment in the Church Fathers. It is not new. You can find it in Scripture. God puts a mark of protection on the murderer Cain.
The "Woke Right" hates the message of Christ and seeks to corrupt it to make a violent and fascistic version of the faith that preaches hatred instead of the commands of God. The “Woke Right” fears that Christianity will show people a better way - in effect true Christianity is an existential threat to its ideology. Love and hate cannot exist in the same space.
The similarities of the two groups (“Woke Left” and “Woke Right”) is uncanny, hence the same moniker used to describe them. Neil Shenvi did a masterful job explaining.
Both subscribe to critical theory’s conceptualization of hegemonic power.
Both demand that individuals internalize victimhood and victim status.
Both appeal to the idea of a critical consciousness and that people need to “wake up” and stop being blind like “normies”.
Both promote an ethnocentric identity over and against any commonality identity (and especially against a Christian’s identity in Jesus).
Both promote godless behavior and speech.
This is because at their core they are both animated by a lack of love. How do you know them? They refuse to love anyone not like them. And when I say "not like them" I mean one single deviation. They are ideologies of hate and resentment, constant outrage is their fuel and state of being. The memes of them screaming portrays the stereotype for a reason.
We are told that in the end three things remain: faith, hope, and love. And that the greatest of these is love. It is not easy to love. Maybe that is why we are commanded to do it? Maybe that is why so much time and energy is invested in teaching it to our children? It is easy to hate. We do not have to teach children to hate, we simply teach them current socially acceptable ways to express hatred. But love? We do have to teach that.
The final example Christ gave to His disciples was to wash their feet as a servant. If the Lord and Creator of the universe would stoop so low as to wash some dirty feet, how could we refuse to do the same?
I will protect this institution called the church. It does not need me to do so, it is the Lord's church. He is perfectly willing and able to do it and does it every single day. But I love it, for in this community I find Jesus and therefore I find love. So I will protect what I love from all its enemies - Left, Right, and Center. I will protect it not through violence or coercion, but through love. I will pray for its members and its enemies. I will pray for those inside and those outside. I will serve all whom the Lord puts across my path.
Some will undoubtedly see it as weakness. Some will mock, others will jeer, some will simply ignore. It is enough for me to serve, as my Lord served and continues to serve. He died for me, I will live and I will love for Him.