The politics of blood...

An article from First Things on political rhetoric and violence.

I do worry that the rhetoric coming from the political fringes has the potential to one day move into the mainstream and then provoke violence. Violent words always seem to be the precursor to violence itself. One must dehumanize the enemy to allow the conscience the freedom to kill and it appears this has already begun.

In times past we've had difficult political campaigns with harsh words but there was always an ethic in place that confined the struggle to words. That ethic, that Judaeo-Christian framework, is largely disappearing and without it politics has become all there is and for many the stakes have become a matter of life and death.

One day the trigger may be pulled. Lord have mercy.