The previous document explored the fear of freedom. It proposed that human beings often prefer certainty to freedom, destiny to responsibility, and scripts to horizons.
A deeper question now emerges.
How does a human being become an enemy?
Most people assume enemies are discovered. History suggests something different.
Enemies are often designated.
This distinction is not merely semantic. It may be one of the most important observations in understanding conflict, religion, politics, nationalism, and even personal relationships.
The person does not change.
The designation changes.
A friend may remain the same person. A family member may remain the same person. A tribe may remain the same tribe. A nation may remain the same nation.
Yet something shifts in the way they are perceived.
The shift begins when a future becomes sacred.
At first, the future is merely an aspiration, a vision, or a goal. But over time the future acquires a different status. It becomes necessary. It becomes inevitable. It becomes sacred.
Once this occurs, people begin to be measured according to their relationship to that future.
Those who advance it are celebrated. Those who support it are welcomed. Those who affirm it are embraced.
But those who question it begin to occupy a different category.
Those who slow it down become obstacles. Those who interfere with it become hindrances. Those who threaten it become dangers.
Notice what has happened.
The person has not changed.
Only the designation has changed.
This may be one of the most overlooked mechanisms in human history.
The enemy is rarely the starting point.
The measurement comes first.
A sacred future creates measurements.
Measurements create obstacles.
Obstacles acquire designations.
The designation becomes enemy.
And once the designation is established, actions that once seemed unthinkable begin to appear justified.
History repeatedly demonstrates this pattern.
Religions have done it. Governments have done it. Empires have done it. Nations have done it. Families have done it. Individuals have done it.
The mechanism remains remarkably consistent.
The enemy is often not discovered.
The enemy is designated.
A destination must be defended.
A horizon may be explored.
A destination creates measurements.
A horizon creates possibilities.
A destination evaluates people according to their usefulness to the future.
A horizon allows people to remain people.
Perhaps one of the great gifts of freedom is that it removes the need to measure every human being according to a predetermined future.
If fulfillment is the end of the scripted story and the beginning of the unscripted story, then humanity is no longer required to defend a sacred destination.
Humanity is free to explore a horizon.
The difference between the two may determine whether another human being becomes a companion on the journey or a designated enemy.
The person does not change.
The designation changes.
The Gospel Revolution • Mike Williams Ministries
William Ethan Massengill • Michael Lilborn Williams • Daniel Thomas Rouse
Published by Audrey Williams