We all know it’s irritating to have people come here and post drivel as responses to our posts. Or to repeat lefty talking points and expect us to accept their pronouncements as “indisputable facts”. We’ve all seen it enough that our first reaction to these postings is to shout TROLL!!! and start smashing them to pieces. I’m asking you all to stop and wait; take a breath before the attacks begin. Neil put it differently and with a more RedState oriented focus. I’m going to try and take it to the broader side of life. In addition to Neil’s article and my own musings of late, I’ve run into this same concept in a couple of places.

A few weeks ago we had a guest speaker at my church. He is the head of Asian operations for a missionary organization and spent a great deal of his own field time in Indonesia. Some of the things he talked about, while not intended to do so, illustrated the differences between free market capitalism and state run services (“people who don’t exist”). But that’s not the part of his presentation that applies here…

He and his disciples deal with Al Queda (or rather their surrogates in Indonesia, Jemaah Islamiyah). Directly. As their targets.

He spoke of the group’s stated goal of ethnic cleansing certain areas. They will target an island or a province and purge it of all non-Muslim people. They’ve been successful at the task on at least 2 islands already. One of the next targets for cleansing is an island that I believe he called Manokwari. This is an island that is rich in resources, but sparsely populated. The people there are mostly Christian with some Muslim people, but since they have been targeted for cleansing there are more Muslim people moving in. They are worried and asked for his advice on how to deal with this problem. He told them they have 3 choices:
1. They can fight the Muslims. This is a losing proposition. The Al Queda groups are better armed and better financed and the government would be more likely to back them than the Christians. And even if they did win a few battles, the fight would never end and the Muslims FAR outnumber the Christians in Indonesia.
2. The can hide in the hills. This was the island people’s usual method of defense against a stronger enemy. It worked when the Japanese invaded in WWII. It’s worked for centuries. It won’t work now. Did I mention the island was rich in resources? The resources are located in the hills and nothing will stop immigration to exploit the resources.
3. They can become friends with the Muslims and show them what Christians are really like. If a Muslim moves in next door, become his friend. Don’t invite him to church (he won’t come), but invite him to dinner. He won’t eat your pork, but he will eat your fruit. If he needs help finding out where to get food, electricity, water, etc. take him to the places. If he is moving furniture, help him lift it.

Muslims in Indonesia have been taught that Christians are evil incarnate. They don’t know many Christians so there is nothing to disprove it. When they see that Christians treat people with love and kindness, they will begin to question their teachings. When Jemaah Islamiyah comes calling, their Muslim neighbors will not join in the slaughter. They will instead help protect the Christians.

You may think it’s PollyAnna thinking, but he’s seen the concept work in other areas of Indonesia. When the Christians are known in the neighborhood as good people doing good work, the local Muslim populations have successfully resisted Jemaah Islamiyah’s attacks on them and demanded that they be left alone. Some of them will even convert (though that’s rare as it’s a deadly decision).

Last week, I heard Glen Beck giving a similar account of how liberals react to conservatives. He said he has liberal friends and colleagues who at first were wary of him. They believed the attacks and labels applied to him. You see, similar to Indonesian Muslim teachings about Christians, the liberals are taught that conservatives are evil incarnate by lefty indoctrination. He doesn’t argue politics with them unless they ask him to. Instead he just lives his life and treats them the same way he treats his conservative friends. After a while (usually a short while) they see that they’ve been told lies about him. Then they start to listen to what he’s saying and start to wonder what other lies the lefties have told them. That’s when he has won a convert.

So I’m proposing that we try to do the same. When you meet a lefty or a moderate (here or in real life), be kind to them. Treat them as if they’re your best friend. Don’t attack them, love them. If they are stating things that aren’t true, correct them gently. If they argue points and spout “known facts”, ask them for sources in a kind way. If they can’t provide sources, give some of your own that show the truth. If they argue ideology with lefty “logic”, give them a reasoned debate with real logic. If they are hopeless trolls who won’t back up their ideas or repeatedly ignore evidence that proves them wrong, apply the Hinz rule and ignore them. They’ll stop talking and start listening, leave on their own, or they’ll become such a pain that they get banned. My hope is that they’ll start listening. If they do, we’ll have a convert.

Note, I’m not suggesting that we should allow incorrect information to stand without challenge. That could be construed as agreement with whatever was posted and could cause more harm than good. Argue the facts, but leave the personal attacks out.

Another thing to remember; there’s another audience. For every person who posts here, there are hundreds (thousands?) who stop by to read, but never post anything. They also see how the 2 sides treat issues and how we treat each other. When you’re in public, there are people who see and hear how you and the liberal interact. I’d also like to win over this crowd. Lefties behaving badly don’t appeal to anyone. I don’t want the lurkers to say “a pox on both your houses”. I want them on OUR side.

As I get older, I’m finding more and more that God’s advice on life and relationships is the correct way to make everything work better. Love your enemy is a tough rule to follow, but it is the correct rule.