BEWARE OF THE NICE DOGGIE
When I was a child my parents trained me in Christian behavior – to be patient and kind, to endure ridicule and repay it with kindness, and to show friendship to any child so ostracized and ridiculed. This was a solid moral foundation for my life. I was a good child. A nice child.
Around middle-school, I endured bullying and repeatedly turned the other cheek, in obedience to what I had been taught. It only encouraged the bullies to keep on bullying. Finally, my dad advised me that it was time to fight back. Punch back – hard. Land at least one good punch. That should put a stop to the bullying.
I landed that punch in the next attack and the bullying stopped.
I learned that “being nice” is good foundational social practice, but like everything, there are exceptions to its rule. Wisdom is recognizing when to be “nice” and when to throw the punch.
People hate Donald Trump mostly because he’s not nice. He is unafraid to throw a punch – and to keep punching until he wins.
That isn’t very nice. But sometimes it may very well be necessary.
Many of us are tired of Republican “gentlemen”, decade after decade, “nicely” losing ground to the opposition by giving it up. The other side doesn’t care about manners and has no intention of being nice. And many of us are saying it’s about time that a president stands for something and stands up to the anti-American and anti-Christian political bullying that is now common in this country.
That’s what many of us loved about Donald Trump.
What alarms me is that so many who claim to follow Jesus Christ don’t see as dangerous or even problematic some of the important issues both for and against which President Trump took a stand.
I’m not sure if they have been fooled by the nice feel of the sheep’s wool or if they just no longer believe wolves are all that dangerous. It was just off-putting to them that Trump couldn’t be nice. Why did he keep wielding a two-by-four instead of just offering his hand and sweetly saying “Nice doggie”?
Perhaps we are divided, not about President Trump, but about what truly threatens the life and health of our nation – and our Christian faith.
Around middle-school, I endured bullying and repeatedly turned the other cheek, in obedience to what I had been taught. It only encouraged the bullies to keep on bullying. Finally, my dad advised me that it was time to fight back. Punch back – hard. Land at least one good punch. That should put a stop to the bullying.
I landed that punch in the next attack and the bullying stopped.
I learned that “being nice” is good foundational social practice, but like everything, there are exceptions to its rule. Wisdom is recognizing when to be “nice” and when to throw the punch.
People hate Donald Trump mostly because he’s not nice. He is unafraid to throw a punch – and to keep punching until he wins.
That isn’t very nice. But sometimes it may very well be necessary.
Many of us are tired of Republican “gentlemen”, decade after decade, “nicely” losing ground to the opposition by giving it up. The other side doesn’t care about manners and has no intention of being nice. And many of us are saying it’s about time that a president stands for something and stands up to the anti-American and anti-Christian political bullying that is now common in this country.
That’s what many of us loved about Donald Trump.
What alarms me is that so many who claim to follow Jesus Christ don’t see as dangerous or even problematic some of the important issues both for and against which President Trump took a stand.
I’m not sure if they have been fooled by the nice feel of the sheep’s wool or if they just no longer believe wolves are all that dangerous. It was just off-putting to them that Trump couldn’t be nice. Why did he keep wielding a two-by-four instead of just offering his hand and sweetly saying “Nice doggie”?
Perhaps we are divided, not about President Trump, but about what truly threatens the life and health of our nation – and our Christian faith.