Any of the senses can elicit a nostalgic response in me. The taste of something once enjoyed in childhood. A smell associated with a Sunday school classroom from decades past.
The familiar outline of Lookout Mountain, that I viewed every clear day of my most formative years. And, of course, music.
So I was awash in sentimentality listening this weekend to the replay of Casey Kasem’s American Top 40 radio show from “this date in 1973.” It was the fall of my senior year of high school, when I enjoyed much more hair with very limited knowledge beneath.
I reveled and poorly sang along with the wide-ranging hits of the time: Elton’s new release, “Yellow Brick Road,” was just starting its way up the chart. Kristofferson’s “Why Me” remained there after 33 weeks.
The Allman Brothers’ “Ramblin’ Man” was still soaring. Reminding me of the time my family was driving on nearby U.S. 41 and I mumbled something about being born in the back seat of a Greyhound bus — causing confusion and rebuke from my dad who didn’t rock.
Motown was well represented by Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross and others. And Barry White assured us that “quittin’ just ain’t my schtick.”
The Carpenters, Charlie Rich and Marie Osmond contributed. Casey told listeners that her song, “Paper Roses,” had earlier been recorded by Anita Bryant.
Then my 1970ssaturated mind quickly returned to present day. In 1973, Anita Bryant was known as a singer and then a promoter of Florida orange juice.
A few years later she became a harsh public crusader against equal rights for gay and lesbian persons. The former Miss Oklahoma led efforts to overturn non-discrimination laws in South Florida.
She promoted the false claim that homosexual persons were actively “targeting” and “recruiting” children to their “lifestyle.” And she did it all as an expression of her Christian faith.
She had lots of help from the Original Jerry Falwell and others. They go down in history known primarily for their hostilities toward a particular group of people.
History is replete with broadly painted dehumanization and discrimination.
In my own life (and as recently as just days ago) I’ve heard those who consider themselves to be devoutly Christian disparaging whole groups of people as lesser beings and threats — Blacks, Yankees, Jews, Muslims and Latino immigrants.
There is some psychological understanding of why people seemingly love to hate groups of people unlike them. Fear of the unfamiliar that feels threatening plays a role — along with the desire to control. So does the need for scapegoating one’s own sense of inadequacy or failure.
But it’s worth asking ourselves before it’s too late: Will we be known for whom we hated or whom we loved?
The tragedy upon tragedy is that so much of the denigration, demeaning and dehumanizing of others comes from those who profess a profound faith in a God whose very nature is love.
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (1 John 4:7-8 ESV)
While claiming to follow Jesus, so many will ignore his encompassing and greatest two-fold command to love God with all one’s being and one’s neighbor as oneself. And despite Jesus giving a clear example of how broadly one’s neighbor is to be defined, there is no giving up of fear-driven justification for not doing so.
Jesus said his followers will be known not by those we hate but by the extent of our love. He seemed to mean it.
John D. Pierce directs the Jesus Worldview Initiative (jesusworldview.org) for Belmont University’s Rev. Charlie Curb Center for Faith Leadership.