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  • Writer's picturePaul Condello

Who Is My Enemy?

In general, people can think about enemies in an abstract way that has little to do with the people who really arouse their animosity.



However, your enemy could be a colleague with different political views who makes you feel like you're wrong about what you think.

As talk of loving one’s enemies becomes a more common topic of discussion in public again, Christians shouldn’t forget to explain what is meant by the word “enemy.” In general, people can think about enemies in an abstract way that has little to do with the people who really arouse their animosity. However, your enemy could be a colleague with different political views who makes you feel like you're wrong about what you think.


It isn’t as hard to think about loving enemies in an abstract and detached way until you remember that person who votes differently from you at the office. It can even be natural to dehumanize that person on some level by thinking of them as inferior to yourself and refusing to treat them with the same sense of fairness that you would show other people.


Loving an enemy such as a colleague at work with oppositional views on how society should be governed would involve recognizing that that person is still a human being and as much of one as you are. It doesn’t mean that you have to agree with what they say and you shouldn’t even pretend to believe that they are right if you genuinely feel they are wrong, but it does mean that you should still treat them the way you would want to be treated when you interface with them.


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