In Montana, love your neighbor is not just talk

“I believe that what self-centered men have torn down, other-centered men can build up.” —Martin Luther King Jr.

There are many forms of evil, but from what I can tell, most evil can best be described as the inability to internalize the other — that which is different than or outside of us.

Thus, racism is evil, and so is anti-Semitism, or any other world view, belief or construct that judges people based on their group affiliation rather than their individual abilities, values and actions.

We can do and be so much better.

Martin Luther King Jr., whose birthday we celebrate Monday, said it this way: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

Unfortunately, there will always be individuals who cannot live up to this dream. There will always be racism. There will always be anti-Semitism. There will always be evil. As Jesus told his disciples, “It is impossible but that offenses will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come!”

I think that Bible verse from the Gospel of Luke is appropriate this weekend as we consider the legacy of Martin Luther King and think about how the city of Whitefish and some of its residents have been offended against by people with small minds and evil hearts.

Whether you are a mother with a despised son or a member of a religious, ethnic or other minority, you deserve to be judged on your own merits, and especially your own actions, and nothing else.

Fortunately, most people in Whitefish, and in the Flathead Valley, do just that. These communities in Northwest Montana are in large measure open and inviting to everyone who lands here who understands the principle of “live and let live.” But when you lash out at our neighbors and denigrate them because they are Jewish or black or Hispanic, you will not be welcome here. End of story.

I’ve lived in the Flathead for 33 years and in Montana for most of 40 years, and compared to almost every place else I have lived — New York, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Tucson — our state and our community are largely untouched by hatred of any kind. “Love your neighbor as yourself” is not just talk around these parts.

I was happy to see a small measure of confirmation of that Montana value last week in a study produced by WalletHub, a personal finance website that specializes in comparative rankings of best and worst across a wide spectrum of topics.

In anticipation of the King holiday, WalletHub released a study that looked at racial integration and racial progress across the 50 states and District of Columbia.

Cynics would probably look at Montana’s ranking as 44th worst out of 51 for racial progress achieved over time, and conclude that Montana is indeed a backwater of hatred and bigotry as we have frequently been portrayed in the national media.

But that is not the Montana I know, and it is certainly not the Flathead Valley where I live. It turns out the reason we haven’t shown much “progress,” as ranked in the study, is that we are already among the top places in the country for racial integration.

The second part of the survey showed that Montana placed ninth best for racial integration among all the states. The study reached that conclusion by comparing 16 different metrics and seeing what kind of gap existed between white and black communities in such areas as employment, education and health.

It is also worth noting that among the 10 best states in this ranking, seven of them were from the more conservative Western and Southern states, joined also by conservative West Virginia. Meanwhile, in the bottom 10 were seven Midwestern or Northeastern states such as Illinois, Michigan and Pennsylvania, where liberal philosophies more often prevail.

Which brings me to my last point — Just as we should not judge each other based on our race, religion or gender, we should also not be so quick to judge each other based on political philosophy, point of geographical origin, or the twang of our accent

I cannot tell you how many times I have heard liberals chortle when hurling around some name like “Montucky” to try to mock our state’s traditional values.

I guess this is supposed to insult Montanans by suggesting we are just like those “rednecks” in Kentucky, but when you see that Kentucky is ranked No. 3 for racial integration, you have to ask yourself just who is really the fool. And when it comes time to defend American values from the likes of neo-Nazis and race haters, you could not have anyone better to fight at your side than a proud Montanan.

May you all enjoy a thoughtful Martin Luther King Jr. Day and honor his memory by showing the same patience, love and wisdom that he exhibited throughout his prematurely shortened life.