When is the last time you were verbally abused? When is the last time you verbally abused someone? We are being verbally abused every time people in power tell us lies! Why do people say one thing when they are running for office, but when they get in, they do the total opposite? Why do we keep believing the lies? Why do we think the liars will change? Is this why abused women stay in an abusive relationship hoping that things will get better? Why do we continue to accept, lie after lie, after lie, and then try to explain the lie so that you can justify your submission?
We should not allow anyone to:
Disrespect us by lying to maintain control,
Use misleading information to establish fear,
Harsh or insulting language to gain loyalty,
Use demeaning or negative words to describe their actions, or
To think you are incapable of thinking for yourself, let alone making a decision based on objectivity.
Please do not get me wrong, there are other ways to describe verbal abuse, but these are some things that come to mind. We have work to do because we are accountable for the words in which we say and tolerate. The Bible says, “If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.” (James 1:26)
The Bible says, “The most of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.” (Proverbs 10:11) Our conversations should be the type of communication that goes along with the word of Allah (God) and leave the person (people) at least one degree higher than when you found them. The goal is to always be better and not let the madness of this world take us off our square by trying to fix something that Allah (God) is going to destroy. We are taught, “That God (Allah) turns you to that in which you turn yourself” so if we are not trying to follow what thus saith the Lord, we are turning to the enemy of Allah (God). The Bible says, “The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works. The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them. The Lord preserves all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.” (Psalm 145:17-20)
Let me stop here and say my prayers go out to the people in Surfside, Florida, in which part of a condo apartment building collapsed. There have been numerous people rescued, and the rescue efforts continue. More than 150 people are still uncounted as of Sunday, July 27. A special thanks to the first responders and all persons helping to assist human beings in this crisis.
We need to always help each other in righteousness! We need to help create an environment where Allah (God) rules and laws are applied and respected, not just with words but through our actions. When a person is willing to put their life on the line to help others, that’s big and reminds me of the sacrifice that Jesus made. What? Yes, because there is no guarantee that they will come out of this and other situations. Some people die trying to save others! When they die, they leave behind their spouse, their children, their family, and their friends, but they willingly sign up for that, just like Jesus. The Bible says, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13) We need to be grateful that we have people who are willing to put their life on the line to help others.
In closing, I am concerned about negative conversations because this is a form of verbal abuse. We cannot put negative labels on a group of people! We are familiar with our history, and we know how bad treatment made us feel, so why would we turn around and do that to some other people? Labels, for the most part, belong to products or items, not a group of people. Listen, when a child has a white parent and a black parent, what will you tell them? We need to know history, but something else is the objective that is not rooted in Allah (God). We need to be very careful not to become a verbal abuser!
