The Kult of Hatred and Fear

I have no idea when I first heard of the Ku Klux Klan or saw images of their ominous yet comical looking outfits. I was born in the mid-50s which means they were still a menacing presence in American society, and still up to their murderous activities.

Actually, Canadian society as well. You might recall me writing in this blog about a Bridge St member telling me that when she had cleared up some family papers she discovered a matter-of-fact reference in her late grandmother's diary to her husband heading out to an evening Klan meeting. This was in Southwestern Ontario, not the Deep South, and hardly what we might imagine as a KKK hotbed.

The Klan was racist and anti-Semitic, and thank God it is long gone. Except that it isn't. There is concern that the racist blather of Donald Trump and his ilk has emboldened those who either never really let go of the false religion of racial superiority and those who figure that they need to rally around the cause.

To be fair, every few years there is an article about the resurgence of the KKK and it hasn't really gained any traction. We do need to be vigilant about any group which espouses an "us and them" ideology.

I am regularly struck by how Jesus breaks down barriers of ethnicity and gender and religion. He welcomed women into his circle and cautioned about the false god of wealth. Our faithfulness to Christ's message is need now, more than perhaps in decades.