{"id":4831,"date":"2018-07-25T22:34:27","date_gmt":"2018-07-26T05:34:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/?p=4831"},"modified":"2018-07-25T22:34:27","modified_gmt":"2018-07-26T05:34:27","slug":"a-modern-parable-of-love-conquering-hate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/2018\/07\/a-modern-parable-of-love-conquering-hate\/","title":{"rendered":"A Modern Parable of Love Conquering Hate"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

A blog published on STAND (Scientologists Taking Action Against Discrimination<\/a>) illustrates the power of love over hate in a very moving narrative. Republished with the permission of STAND.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Rabbi and the Bigot\u2014A Story of Redemption<\/h1>\n

American researcher and Scientology Founder, L. Ron Hubbard, published an essay in 1965 wherein he posits the importance of using and teaching the \u201ccorrect technology.\u201d Simply put, there\u2019s a right way to do things and a wrong way to do things. The right way to turn on a light switch is to flick it to the \u201con\u201d position. The wrong way is anything else: yelling at the light switch, shooting the light switch with an assault rifle, reasoning with the light switch, posting guards and checkpoints around the light switch, throwing away millions of taxpayer dollars for a government study on why the light switch won\u2019t turn on, and on and on.<\/p>\n

How do we know if we\u2019re using the correct technology on anything? Simple. It works.<\/p>\n

One Sunday morning in 1991,\u00a0Rabbi Michael Weisser<\/a>\u00a0of the South Street Temple in Lincoln, Nebraska, answered his phone to hear a voice: \u201cHey, Jew Boy, we\u2019ll make you sorry you moved here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\"The<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

A few days later, the Rabbi found a package on his front walk containing anti-Semitic, pro-Nazi pamphlets and a card reading: \u201cThe KKK is watching you, scum.\u201d<\/p>\n

The police tracked the message and pamphlets to Larry Trapp, the state Grand Dragon of the\u00a0Ku Klux Klan<\/a>, who kept a full stock of loaded artillery and pro-Hitler propaganda in his apartment. They advised the Rabbi to move his family out of town.<\/p>\n

Rabbi Weisser elected not to. Instead, he found Trapp in the phonebook, phoned him, waited through the venomous, hate-filled outgoing message, and then left one of his own: \u201cLarry, there\u2019s a lot of love out there. You\u2019re not getting any of it. Don\u2019t you want some?\u201d<\/p>\n

Once a week, Rabbi Weisser would leave a message of love and encouragement on Trapp\u2019s voicemail. When he learned that Trapp was nearly blind and wheelchair-bound due to diabetes, he left this message: \u201cLarry, why do you love the Nazis so much? They\u2019d have killed you first because you\u2019re disabled.\u201d<\/p>\n

After several weeks of leaving messages, Rabbi Weisser dialed Trapp, and instead of the usual vitriol, heard instead a click and a hoarse voice: \u201cWhat do you want?!\u201d<\/p>\n

The Rabbi answered, \u201cI thought you might need a ride to the grocery store.\u201d<\/p>\n

After a long pause, the voice mumbled, \u201cQuit bothering me.\u201d<\/p>\n

A few nights later Rabbi Weisser\u2019s phone rang. He could tell from caller ID it was Trapp.<\/p>\n

\u201cHi, Larry, how are you?\u201d<\/p>\n

After a moment Trapp said timidly, \u201cI want to get out of what I\u2019m doing and I don\u2019t know how.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Rabbi and his wife drove out to Trapp\u2019s apartment, moved him into their house, introduced him to their friends, cared for him, ran errands for him, and let him do some office work at the temple. He had never wanted to hate people. His father, a towering bully, had taught him by example and constant beatings. He eventually renounced the Klan, apologized to the congregation and converted to Judaism. When he died from his disabilities, his Jewish funeral was attended by scores of his new friends.<\/p>\n

\n
\"The
Larry Trapp\u2019s tombstone, crowned by a Jewish star. (Photo by\u00a0David Williss<\/a>\u00a0on Flickr)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hate is an incorrect technology. It simply doesn\u2019t work. People do have a vast potential to hate, which can be tapped. We\u2019ve all seen that. But people also have a vast potential to love, which likewise can be tapped. We\u2019ve seen that, too.<\/p>\n

Rabbi Weisser used the correct technology to convert a hater into a decent human being. He could have run away and left the hater to hate. Instead, he chose to fight hate with love.<\/p>\n

Was he scared? Sure. The police thought he was crazy\u2014that he was risking his life and the security of his family. But sometimes it takes courage to apply the correct technology when everyone and everything, including your own gut, tells you not to.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A blog published on STAND (Scientologists Taking Action Against Discrimination) illustrates the power of love over hate in a very moving narrative. Republished with the permission of STAND. The Rabbi and the Bigot\u2014A Story of Redemption American researcher and Scientology Founder, L. Ron Hubbard, published an essay in 1965 wherein he posits the importance of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":219,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1374],"tags":[1288,1362,222],"class_list":["post-4831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stand","tag-bigotry","tag-hate","tag-love"],"yoast_head":"\nlover-over-hate<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A blog published on STAND (Scientologists Taking Action Against Discrimination) illustrates the power of love over hate in a very moving narrative. Republished with the permission of STAND.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/2018\/07\/a-modern-parable-of-love-conquering-hate\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"lover-over-hate\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A blog published on STAND (Scientologists Taking Action Against Discrimination) illustrates the power of love over hate in a very moving narrative. Republished with the permission of STAND.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/2018\/07\/a-modern-parable-of-love-conquering-hate\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Scientology Beliefs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-07-26T05:34:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.standleague.org\/FURL\/imagecache\/cropfit@w=824\/blob\/images\/articles\/a\/e\/aef70ec2-8c42-11e8-aab4-42010a80013d\/kkk.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"ScientologyBeliefs\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"ScientologyBeliefs\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/2018\/07\/a-modern-parable-of-love-conquering-hate\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/2018\/07\/a-modern-parable-of-love-conquering-hate\/\",\"name\":\"lover-over-hate\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-07-26T05:34:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-07-26T05:34:27+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/#\/schema\/person\/de2d5509212ec54ab6ece4c23c7be1d3\"},\"description\":\"A blog published on STAND (Scientologists Taking Action Against Discrimination) illustrates the power of love over hate in a very moving narrative. Republished with the permission of STAND.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/2018\/07\/a-modern-parable-of-love-conquering-hate\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/2018\/07\/a-modern-parable-of-love-conquering-hate\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/2018\/07\/a-modern-parable-of-love-conquering-hate\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Modern Parable of Love Conquering Hate\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/\",\"name\":\"Scientology Beliefs\",\"description\":\"Scientologists Blogging about their Religion and Concerns\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/#\/schema\/person\/de2d5509212ec54ab6ece4c23c7be1d3\",\"name\":\"ScientologyBeliefs\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/93be1a8bd8b9da5809a7c39e5907cf69?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/93be1a8bd8b9da5809a7c39e5907cf69?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"ScientologyBeliefs\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/author\/lwieland\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"lover-over-hate","description":"A blog published on STAND (Scientologists Taking Action Against Discrimination) illustrates the power of love over hate in a very moving narrative. Republished with the permission of STAND.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/2018\/07\/a-modern-parable-of-love-conquering-hate\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"lover-over-hate","og_description":"A blog published on STAND (Scientologists Taking Action Against Discrimination) illustrates the power of love over hate in a very moving narrative. Republished with the permission of STAND.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/2018\/07\/a-modern-parable-of-love-conquering-hate\/","og_site_name":"Scientology Beliefs","article_published_time":"2018-07-26T05:34:27+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.standleague.org\/FURL\/imagecache\/cropfit@w=824\/blob\/images\/articles\/a\/e\/aef70ec2-8c42-11e8-aab4-42010a80013d\/kkk.jpg"}],"author":"ScientologyBeliefs","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"ScientologyBeliefs","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/2018\/07\/a-modern-parable-of-love-conquering-hate\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/2018\/07\/a-modern-parable-of-love-conquering-hate\/","name":"lover-over-hate","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-07-26T05:34:27+00:00","dateModified":"2018-07-26T05:34:27+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/#\/schema\/person\/de2d5509212ec54ab6ece4c23c7be1d3"},"description":"A blog published on STAND (Scientologists Taking Action Against Discrimination) illustrates the power of love over hate in a very moving narrative. Republished with the permission of STAND.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/2018\/07\/a-modern-parable-of-love-conquering-hate\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/2018\/07\/a-modern-parable-of-love-conquering-hate\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/2018\/07\/a-modern-parable-of-love-conquering-hate\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Modern Parable of Love Conquering Hate"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/","name":"Scientology Beliefs","description":"Scientologists Blogging about their Religion and Concerns","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/#\/schema\/person\/de2d5509212ec54ab6ece4c23c7be1d3","name":"ScientologyBeliefs","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/93be1a8bd8b9da5809a7c39e5907cf69?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/93be1a8bd8b9da5809a7c39e5907cf69?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"ScientologyBeliefs"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/author\/lwieland\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/219"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4831"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4831\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}