Bully...

The topic of bullies comes up often in today's world. They have always been with us but until recently, were squarely in the minority. When I was a child, to be called a bully was to invite adult intervention. Allowing one child to bully another was not tolerated. The bully was punished in an effort to curb their behavior.

Unfortunately, they are fast becoming too loud to drown out, too powerful to control by conventional means. It's happening more often and earlier. Is it their fault? Or, is it ours? Do we stand up to the bully in a way in which Christ is honored? While He walked this earth, Jesus would not, did not tolerate this type of behavior...but He did not retaliate by trying to shout them down...He spoke the truth to them. In quiet, calm tones.

While it is so hard to watch (especially in children), we do neither ourselves or them any favors by stooping to their level. The Reverend Fredrick Schmidt, Jr. sheds some light on the situation...

Welcome to the bully culture: E Pluribus Bully'em. They are armed and dangerous. Not in the traditional sense. They are armed with the internet. They are armed with the ability to say anything and everything until it sticks. They are loud and large.

So where does the spiritual task lie?

1. Listen to the people on the edge.
2. Invite them into the conversation.
3. Insist that they are heard—even if what they want to say is not something you (or the bullies) want to hear.
4. Mirror in your own behavior the modesty that allows others to make their own choices.
5. Remember that God's politics are not your politics—or theirs. Your way is not the only way.
6. Insist on listening.
7. Redirect attention away from the labels to the arguments, the logic, the evidence, the data.
8. Resist the bullies. Resist them by speaking out. Resist them by being honest. Resist them by naming their behavior what it is: bullying.
9. If necessary, turn them off until they learn the limits of their singular, childish demands.

To back off and shrink back neither serves God nor the search for Truth. Backing off strengthens bullies—reinforces their delusions—and fosters an idolatry that crowds out the voice of God.

Caving into bullies is the new apostasy. To face it squarely is to risk the new martyrdom.

Join the effort. Be a saint.