Dear John Pavlovitz,

As much as I do understand your feeling, hating Trump and not just the atrocities he and his gang perpetrate makes us like him not like Jesus.

Jesus did not hate people. He could be angry at their practices and mindset, as he was when he overturned the tables of the money changers in the temple and chased them out in a symbolic act to disrupt the sacrificial system.

But Jesus nonetheless showed love to even them because he saw in them also “the least of them,” that is, the vulnerability they hide with their armor, that is, the heart they have hardened out of fear. He had meals with people from all social groups in the hierarchy of power, with everyone, and tried to change their hearts through a kind of nurturing love that invited them to leave the ways of fear and hate behind.

Hate will not overcome hate, only love can. That, I believe, is Jesus’ unique message.