Spend much time in left-wing circles — especially the kind of deep-blue progressive urban centers that produce our nation’s mainstream media — and you’ll find a sincere, abiding fear that “angry white-wing rhetoric” is on the verge of spurring a wave of murder and violence. I’ve had multiple conversations with otherwise smart people who are just convinced that people like my Rush Limbaugh–listening friends and neighbors are so seething with rage that they’re a hair’s breadth from snapping.
.. At the same time, many of these same folks are utterly unconcerned with the effects of angry left-wing rhetoric. Politician after politician can accuse Republicans of killing people with their health-care plan, and that’s just “speaking truth to power.” When Hillary Clinton calls Republicans the “death party,” then that’s just the #Resistance in action. When left-wing riots break out across the land, then the resulting chaos is glossed-over as “mostly peaceful” protest.
.. There is, in fact, a problem with far-left violence, and the roots of that rage should be explored with at least the same energy the media devotes to perceived right-wing threats.
Too Much Activism Without Enough Inner Work, Insight, Examination of Conscience Leads to Violence
We shouldn’t confuse various kinds of inner work, insight-gathering, or introspection with contemplative spirituality. Contemplation is about letting go of the false much more than just collecting the new, the therapeutic, or the helpful.
.. if you and your personal growth are still the focus, I do not think you are yet a contemplative—which demands that you shed yourself as the central reference point.
.. Jesus said, “Unless the single grain of wheat dies, it remains just a single grain,” and it will not bear much fruit (John 12:24).
.. Thomas Merton warned against confusing an introverted personality with being a contemplative. They are two different things.
.. Too much activism without enough inner work, insight, or examination of conscience inevitably leads to violence—to the self, to the project at hand, and invariably to others.
If too much inner focus risks narcissism and individualism,
I guess too much outer focus risks superficiality, negativity passing for love of justice, and various Messiah complexes.
You can lack love on the Right and you can lack love on the Left—they just wear two different disguises.
WATCH: Donald Trump Shares Wrestlemania Meme of Him Tackling CNN
President Donald Trump shared a video meme of him physically tackling CNN and repeatedly punching it in the face.
Trump Tweets a Video of Him Wrestling ‘CNN’ to the Ground
Mr. Trump’s homeland security adviser, Thomas Bossert, defended the video when he viewed it for the first time during a broadcast interview with Martha Raddatz of ABC News. “No one would perceive that as a threat,” Mr. Bossert said. “I hope they don’t.”
“He’s a genuine president expressing himself genuinely,” Mr. Bossert added.
.. CNN also replied to Mr. Trump on Twitter with a quotation from one of the president’s press aides, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who in a briefing on Thursday told reporters: “The president in no way form or fashion has ever promoted or encouraged violence. If anything, quite the contrary.”