by Noah Giddings, ’24

“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” As Nelson Mandela reflected on the Apartheid era, this was his greatest conclusion. People are not born either good or evil but learn both over time. Shown hatred and we hate. Shown love and we love. The potential for both rests within each of us.

Our modern world slants sharply in one direction: towards hatred over love. Within the past few years alone, devastating acts of violence and hatred have ravaged our society. The death of George Floyd. The Russo-Ukrainian war. The Covid pandemic. As a planet and a species, we seem to be scholars of hate, Luddites against love.

But what can we do? What possibility do ordinary people have for interrupting this cycle of conflict and contempt? A local Indianapolis church has modeled one radical solution.

Over the past three months, I’ve had the opportunity to work alongside Indianapolis First Congregational Church as their Just-Peace intern and learn about their philosophy of radical inclusivity and love. Their focus and concern for love is immediately apparent.

A banner outside the church advertises their commitment to Just-Peace and their Sunday service bulletin celebrates their open-and-affirming status. It doesn’t take long to realize that First Congregation takes seriously Jesus’ injunction to “love one another”. In that vein of love, First Congregational invites all members of the local community to share in worship — only hate is not welcome in their halls. Their commitment is to a version of Christianity in which love is the first, best response to the hatred which permeates our world.

In my time with First Congregational, I’ve seen this commitment play out firsthand. Sunday mornings begin with dialogue and reflection on love and peace. Pastor Sarah Lund, the head Pastor of First Congregational, reaffirms their open-and-affirming status soon after each service begins. The church rebukes hateful legislation by writing their representatives en masse. Congregants attend rallies and make visits to the statehouse to support improved mental health care. First Congregational’ s commitment to love and, by extension, peace and justice is more than mere boilerplate. The members of this community affect these visions both in terms of relationships and of cultivating civil discourse with regard to political views. Love isn’t an idea. Love is an action.

As the semester ends and I part ways with First Congregational Church, I’ll hold onto this vision of radical love — an inclusive, unrestricted love which accepts all through activity and empathy. The love of First Congregational offers one answer to the hate which so pervades our modern world. In a sleepy neighborhood on the north side of Indianapolis, we find a powerful demonstration of the efficacy of love.  What better example of Jesus’ life is there than this?