Hate speech: Et Tu, Christians

By M K George

Rome, Feb 14, 2022: We have a family group. We call it Kudumbayogam. We used to meet physically once a year. Now with the pandemic, we have an active WhatsApp group.

In fact, Kudumbayogams are quite common among Christians in Kerala and they all write their histories. An interesting thing about those ‘histories’ is, especially among the Syrian Christians, somehow most of them try to trace their roots back to Saint Thomas the Apostle.

These family groups do play a very positive role. They keep generations in touch. Younger generations who would otherwise not even know each other get to keep in touch. Like in our group, there is a lot of mutual help happening. We give scholarships and even built a house for one of our lesser fortunate family members. For funerals of family members, the Kudumbayogam officials make it a point to be present. They visit the sick, whenever they can. Overall, these groups are very Christian in attitude and behavior.

However, I had a shock when recently the family WhatsApp group started sending ‘Islamophobic’ materials. To one of those I responded: ‘This is hate speech. Should the Family group promote such hate speech?’ While two people seemed to agree with me, pat came another reply saying, ‘Kudumbayogam members are free to promote anything?’

Are they really? Maybe they are. But, are we Christian when we promote hate speech?

There is a problem here. Many do not even understand that they are promoting hate speech, when they innocently forward the messages or engage in heated debates. Let me refer to the recent message to which I referred. It was a message with ‘facts’ of how Muslims in Kerala are ‘snatching away’ the benefits due to all the poor.

The hate speech was not in the data. The data is correct. The hate dimension was in the purpose of the forward. The sender should have the moral sensitivity to ask ‘Will this forward create amity among communities or discord?’ This applies to other hot issues like ‘Halal food,’ ‘Love Jihad’ and all. While I do not deny there are issues to be handled, my question is, is the current approach the best? Are there other smarter and more Christian approaches?

We need to get back to what hate speech really is, and what it does to the polity. The definition of hate speech says, an ‘abusive or threatening speech or writing that expresses prejudice against a particular group, especially on the basis of race, religion, or sexual orientation.’ Quite often, our hate speeches are of the latter group expressing prejudices against a group.

We should learn from history. Listen to these words from Lauren Holtzblatt: ‘words create narratives. Words have the ability to disrupt, provoke and uproot, and in a world that is divided, they can cause terrible harm. Building false narratives about Jews – or any other group for that matter- can destroy. In Nazi Germany Jews were de-humanized first by words as they were described as rats, defiling society. Dehumanizing another by using words that can help categorize people as less than us, thus normalizing horrible acts.”

India is playing out the script almost verbatim. Reports say, ‘hate speech in India nears dangerous levels’. Rohinton Fali Nariman said, “You have persons giving hate speech, actually calling for genocide of an entire group, and we find reluctance of the authorities to book these people…Unfortunately, the other higher echelons of the ruling party are not only being silent on hate speech, but almost endorsing it.”

There is no questioning that in India, the Christians are under attack, both in the media and even physically. The media has been particularly vitriolic taking advantage of the cases in the court and the crises and controversies within the Church.

But, the response of the so-called Christian media is stranger still. They seem follow the same style of the popular media, almost imitating their style of presentation and arguments. You watch some of these programs – aggressive, arrogant, and ad hominem at times.

There is something terribly strange in Christians joining hate speech. It is antithetical to the basic Christian values. Compassion and merciful love are the ways of Christianity. Sometimes hate speech happens in the sacred precincts of the churches, with the sweet coating of, ‘it is only a warning for the faithful to be careful ‘.

Someone can challenge me and ask, did not John the Baptist in the Gospel the evil doers, ‘brood of vipers’? Did not Jesus cleanse the temple with a whip of chords?

But remember, who among us have the credibility and moral courage of John the Baptist or Jesus?
We are all broken. We are all sinners. Hence, our way should be of humility, suffering and confronting reality with truth. Didn’t Jesus show the way when he said, “If I said something wrong testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?”

In a world full of hate speech, taking the following advice is good not only for Christians, but for any sensible person: “ In this time of social platforms that influence millions, pausing before we speak and taking words seriously might not only be such a bad thing. Indeed it might do the work of repairing the world”

We must watch our words. St. Paul exhorted us, ‘we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ’. There should be no place for hate speech in a Christian life.

(Jesuit Father M K George currently lives in Rome.)