I have new-found respect for Mitt Romney; strange bedfellows, no? It’s a narrow and opportunistic point, I'll admit. I appreciate – and agree with – his recent “trickle down” phrasing. What a perfectly concise way of explaining one of the key reasons most people dislike Trump; my marketing brain is envious. Romney spoke of Trump’s “trickle down racism, trickle down bigotry, and trickle down misogyny” in articulating why he can’t support Trump. Trickle Down Hate. And while I’m not writing specifically about Trump, he does make the perfect stooge; everyone is familiar with his insecurity, his inflated ego, and the ignorant vomit he frequently spews.

Switch gears for a moment to last week’s tragedy in Orlando. The shooter was an American, a Muslim, a bigot, a homophobe (internalized homophobia?), and apparently mentally quite unstable. We mourn for the victims of such senseless violence – again and again. Was it ISIL that inspired him to take such violent action? Those prone to jumping to conclusions are pretty sure, even if the facts don’t align to further an anti-Islam narrative. We will never know the full truth, but we do know there was a volatile mix – of hateful ideologies (ISIL and homophobia), mental illness, and unencumbered access to assault weapons.

But again, that’s not what this post is about.

Hate, simplified

Hatred and intolerance are born of fear; using unfounded fear to separate people into “us vs. them” – as if culture were a zero-sum game – is therefore a form of hate. It’s hate when ISIL calls for murder of innocents. It’s hate when Trump vilifies Mexicans and Muslims. It’s hate when a Georgia Congressman or a Texas Lt. Governor recite Bible verses suggesting that gays are worthy of death. It’s hate when a Sacramento Pastor praises the Orlando attack, claiming the tragedy was that more of them didn’t die. It’s hate when members of the LGTBQ+ community are harassed, bullied, ostracized, and treated as second-class citizens. We can legitimately call it hate when politicians use the specter of grown men lurking in girl’s bathrooms to pass ill-conceived anti-transgender laws.

So what’s my point?

Homophobia and the culpability of power

Unlike economics, hate trickles down quite readily; it translates all too easily from the speech of authority figures – political and religious leaders, teachers, parents, even entertainers – to the psyche and actions of individuals. At the top, hate speech doesn’t need to be explicit, nor does it need a call to action; it simply feeds existing biases, latent or overt, giving them light and air. Those at the bottom of this trickle-down chain will interpret as they wish and take actions they deem appropriate. Independent thinkers see through the vitriol; thankfully, these are at least a small majority. For most others, actions will be quite subtle; internalized, vocalized discreetly, perpetuated via inter-generational bigotry – often with self-righteous denials of any culpability. For yet a smaller contingent, actions may be more overt; refusing to bake a cake, disowning family members, public protestations against equality. And for some – especially the mentally-challenged fringe and their poorly-educated, isolated and gullible kin – those actions will be amplified by often cowardly violence; the cover of night, the drunken imbalance of mob power, the impersonal distance that guns offer.

Of course those at the top will claim their words were misinterpreted, at the same time cowering behind the guise of free speech. But make no mistake; those at the top – those with public voices, those in positions of power and influence – are to varying degrees culpable for the actions of those at the bottom.

A continuum of hate

Just as there are spectrums of mental illness, there is also a continuum of hate speech. It’s obvious that ISIL directly promotes hate and violence, to a degree we don’t really understand. We can assign the extremist label to Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church. Somewhat less hateful might be the Sacramento pastor, the Georgia Congressman, the Texas Lieutenant Governor – but all are guilty, even as they claim they meant well.

We in the U.S. cherish religious liberty and free speech – and, yes, gun ownership – as core American values. These are values that are not as important to most other Western democracies; at least, they’re not as frequently driven to their societal extremes in order to test their limits. But what happens when someone who is mentally unstable, filled with hate and bigotry, and armed for the battlefield hears messages of death from authority figures? The outcomes have become increasingly predictable. And we often think of these death-harboring voices as all in their heads, with a satisfying and distancing label for it: schizophrenia.

Whose voices?

Are they the voices of ISIL? Of a local Imam? Of a presidential pretender? Of a self-appointed curator of American values? Could they be the voices emanating from your Sunday pulpit? Or are they the echoes of generational bigotry?

I believe we’ve crossed a line here, and there will be no turning back. On the spectrum of hate – from the lunatic extremism of Fred Phelps, through the twisted logic of Pat Buchanan and Franklin Graham, all the way to “progressive” churches that “love the sinner, hate the sin” – aren't there only differences of degree? And while a preacher or a politician may be able to exercise the mental gymnastics and logical contortions and historical justifications required to spin such messages as positive and loving, these nuances will not likely trickle down. Fundamentally, by identifying those in the LBTGQ+ community as “other,” as unworthy of full participation in the society we share, as something less than the desirable and righteous us, these leaders have sewn seeds of hate. The seeds may be tiny and weak, but given the right volatile fertilizer they all have the potential to germinate and grow into another Orlando. The messengers have dirt – and often blood – on their hands.

So here’s a question, particularly appropriate if you belong to a faith community. What messages do you hear about the LBGTQ+ community?  If they resemble those from the extreme side of the spectrum, I hope you have made plans to walk away. If the hatred is more nuanced, perhaps you have a choice; work from within to promote change, or find a community that is already more inclusive – they’re becoming quite popular.

At some point I may write about the power of trickle down love; the tone should be much different. But I’d probably only end up quoting Martin Luther King Jr.; I’ll pick two favorites to conclude. “Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” “Time itself is neutral; it can be used either destructively or constructively… Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men….”