Esther (Greek) 3:7-15: a reflection

7In the twelfth year of the reign of Ahasuerus, Haman made a decision by casting lots by day and month, to kill the race of Mordecai in one day. The lot fell on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar. 8So he spoke to King Ahasuerus, saying, “There is a nation scattered among the nations in all your kingdom, and their laws differ from all the other nations. They disobey the king’s laws. It is not expedient for the king to tolerate them. 9If it seem good to the king, let him make a decree to destroy them, and I will remit into the king’s treasury ten thousand talents of silver.” 10So the king took off his ring, and gave it into the hands of Haman to seal the decrees against the Jews. 11The king said to Haman, “Keep the silver, and treat the nation as you will.” 12So the king’s recorders were called in the first month, on the thirteenth day, and they wrote as Haman commanded to the captains and governors in every province, from India even to Ethiopia, to one hundred twenty-seven provinces; and to the rulers of the nations according to their languages, in the name of King Ahasuerus. 13The message was sent by couriers throughout the kingdom of Ahasuerus, to utterly destroy the race of the Jews on the first day of the twelfth month, which is Adar, and to plunder their goods. [The following is the copy of the letter. “From the great King Ahasuerus to the rulers and the governors under them of one hundred twenty-seven provinces, from India even to Ethiopia, who hold authority under him: “Ruling over many nations and having obtained dominion over the whole world, I was determined (not elated by the confidence of power, but ever conducting myself with great moderation and gentleness) to make the lives of my subjects continually tranquil, desiring both to maintain the kingdom quiet and orderly to its utmost limits, and to restore the peace desired by all men. When I had asked my counselors how this should be brought to pass, Haman, who excels in soundness of judgment among us, and has been manifestly well inclined without wavering and with unshaken fidelity, and had obtained the second post in the kingdom, informed us that a certain ill-disposed people is scattered among all the tribes throughout the world, opposed in their law to every other nation, and continually neglecting the commands of the king, so that the united government blamelessly administered by us is not quietly established. Having then conceived that this nation is continually set in opposition to every man, introducing as a change a foreign code of laws, and injuriously plotting to accomplish the worst of evils against our interests, and against the happy establishment of the monarchy, we instruct you in the letter written by Haman, who is set over the public affairs and is our second governor, to destroy them all utterly with their wives and children by the swords of the enemies, without pitying or sparing any, on the fourteenth day of the twelfth month Adar, of the present year; that the people aforetime and now ill-disposed to us having been violently consigned to death in one day, may hereafter secure to us continually a well constituted and quiet state of affairs.”] 14Copies of the letters were published in every province; and an order was given to all the nations to be ready for that day. 15This business was hastened also in Susa. The king and Haman began to drink, but the city was confused.

When Haman sets out to destroy a whole people, he justifies his murderous plan to the king with slander and prejudice, painting them as a scattered, different, disobedient people not worth tolerating. There is a nation scattered among the nations, he says, and their laws differ from all others; they disobey the king's laws, and it is not expedient to tolerate them. By slander and prejudice, portraying a whole people as different, dangerous, and not worth sparing, Haman justified an evil plan against them. This is how evil so often works: dehumanizing a group with lies and prejudice to justify harming them. This is a sobering picture of how slander and prejudice against a people are used to justify evil. Evil justifies itself by slandering and dehumanizing a whole group. Prejudice and lies against a people pave the way for harm. Beware the slander that portrays a group as not worth sparing. Dehumanizing others with prejudice is how evil justifies harm.

Notice how Haman justified his evil plan. He did not present it as the naked cruelty it was; he wrapped it in slander and prejudice against a whole people, portraying them as scattered, different, disobedient, dangerous to the kingdom, not worth tolerating. By painting the group as other, as a threat, as not worth sparing, he made destroying them seem reasonable, even expedient. This is a pattern by which evil so often justifies itself: not by admitting its cruelty, but by dehumanizing a group of people, portraying them with lies and prejudice as different, dangerous, and not worth caring about, so that harming them seems justified. This is a sobering warning. We are called to guard against the slander and prejudice that portray whole groups of people as other, as threats, as not worth caring about, for this is the very way that terrible evils against people are justified. Every person is made in God's image; no group is rightly dehumanized or portrayed as not worth sparing. We do well to resist the lies and prejudice by which evil against people is justified, and to see every person and group as bearing God's image. Slander and prejudice against a group pave the way for evil. Resist the lies that portray whole groups as not worth caring about. Every person bears God's image; none is rightly dehumanized. Guard against the prejudice by which evil against people is justified.

That is worth taking to heart, for slander and prejudice against a group of people are the very way evil against them is so often justified, and we do well to resist such lies and see every person as bearing God's image. We can absorb or spread slander and prejudice that portray whole groups as other, dangerous, and not worth caring about; but this is exactly how Haman justified his plan to destroy a whole people. Prejudice paves the way for evil. Guard against the lies and prejudice that dehumanize whole groups; see every person as bearing God's image, worth caring about. Guard against the slander and prejudice that portray a whole group of people as other, dangerous, and not worth sparing, seeing instead every person as bearing God's image, as Haman justified his murderous plan against a whole people by slandering them to the king as a scattered, different, disobedient nation not worth tolerating; for evil so often justifies itself not by admitting its cruelty but by dehumanizing a group of people, portraying them with lies and prejudice as different, dangerous, and not worth caring about, so that harming them seems reasonable and even expedient, and this is the very way that terrible evils against people are justified, so that we are called to guard against and resist the slander and prejudice that portray whole groups as not worth caring about, remembering that every person is made in God's image and no group is rightly dehumanized or portrayed as not worth sparing, and refusing to absorb or spread the lies by which evil against people is justified.

Lord, when Haman sets out to destroy a whole people, he justifies his murderous plan to the king with slander and prejudice, painting them as a scattered, different, disobedient people not worth tolerating. There is a nation scattered among the nations, he says, and their laws differ from all others; they disobey the king's laws, and it is not expedient to tolerate them. By slander and prejudice, portraying a whole people as different, dangerous, and not worth sparing, Haman justified an evil plan against them. This is how evil so often works: dehumanizing a group with lies and prejudice to justify harming them. Show me how Haman justified his evil plan. He did not present it as the naked cruelty it was; he wrapped it in slander and prejudice against a whole people, portraying them as scattered, different, disobedient, dangerous, not worth tolerating. By painting the group as other, as a threat, he made destroying them seem reasonable. This is a pattern by which evil so often justifies itself: not by admitting its cruelty, but by dehumanizing a group of people with lies and prejudice, so that harming them seems justified. This is a sobering warning. I am called to guard against the slander and prejudice that portray whole groups of people as other, as threats, as not worth caring about, for this is the very way that terrible evils against people are justified. Every person is made in your image; no group is rightly dehumanized. Take that to my heart, for slander and prejudice against a group are the very way evil against them is so often justified. Keep me from absorbing or spreading the lies and prejudice that dehumanize whole groups; help me resist them, Lord, and see every person as bearing your image, worth caring about, refusing to portray any group as not worth sparing, as Haman did.