Bright people are able to see cause and effect. They can, for instance, see a new mine going into an area and say: “This new mine will provide jobs for many people. It will provide material for goods that people need. It will help keep the costs of manufacturing down. More people can then get more things they need.
Others focus on completely different aspects of the new mine. “Animal life will be threatened. Ecosystems will be damaged. Watersheds will be harmed.”
While it’s tempting to call such people “idiots”, the Bible says we can’t. They are our neighbors, and we have to love them. One way is to actually wade through the twisted, tortured mishmash of stale, tired ideas and try to understand why these people are the way they are.
We find that they, themselves, do not love their neighbors. They would rather see natives go on starving than see them get jobs and build their own homes in which they can raise their own families.
Their reasons for stopping progress are always the same. They invariably concoct and embrace some “higher goal”, that can always be preferred to having other people be better off.
Once we understand that they are not going to Heaven (for not loving their neighbor), it’s hard to hate and despise them. We see the possibility of endless joy. They see nothing past retirement.
We are so much more fortunate to see the bright, clear light and the impenetrable darkness. They live in the shadows. Pretending to do good, they do great evil. Many of them live their lives where every commandment is followed except that exhortation to love their neighbor.
Pretending to help, they hurt many people. Blinded by their own self-righteousness, their souls shrivel. Arrogant. Uncompromising. Unforgiving. And, always so very, very right.
