Joyce and I are unabashedly fans of British mysteries. Our DVD collection proves it!

One of our favorites, Midsomer Murders, had an episode about individuals murdered following accusations of being witches.

After solving the case, the detective asks if the witch hunts are now over. His daughter responds: “Witch hunts are never over. Ban one, you have to find another! Everyone has to have someone they can feel good about hating.”

I taped that statement on my Bible’s cover.

For decades, in political, ethnic and religious spheres, I’ve found this attitude omnipresent.

Applied to those three spheres, this attitude says my government/ country is better than yours, my racial makeup is better than yours, my religion/faith is better than yours.

Therefore, I need to make your government like mine; I am superior to you because of my birth; I have the inside track to heaven and you are lost unless you agree with, worship, and act like me.

This outlook demands my superiority be based on your inferiority.

build myself up by tearing you down.

Possibly, hate may be too strong a word. Maybe it’s fear of the unknown, of what is different, a lack of understanding of and appre- ciation for the differences that exist upon God’s good earth.

Apply it across the above three spheres. We’re seeing it played out in the growth of confrontational politics, especially during the past two decades, where tearing down the other is part and parcel of the political process rather than working for the common good. We’re seeing it in “ethnic cleansing” that has gone on for centuries and continues to this very day, becoming so much a part of world events we have become oblivious to its presence. We’ve seen it in religion for centuries as well, where some Christians were so positive they had the only way to salvation that they killed “heretics” to save their souls! Many have not learned from history. We still have Christian denominations convinced their way is the only way and all other Christians, let alone non-Christians, are “lost.” We still have conflicts centuries and millennia old in the Middle East where war continues, each party self-assured that God is on its side.

All these are things we do so we can feel good about hating another.

I read the Midsomer quote almost daily. It’s a constant reminder to keep close watch on my attitude as well as my tongue, hopefully to catch myself if I ever even begin to “feel good” about any attitude that denigrates another person’s birthplace, ethnic background, or approach to God.