How am I supposed have universal love for everyone when people act so narrow-minded and brutal at times?

Answer 1

Unconditional Love is a difficult concept. Most people believe that in order to love someone unconditionally you have to love everything about them. Not true. You can love the person or the spirit of the person without loving their actions.

I don't know if you have a child or not, but this is the way that I see the issue. You love your child but he/she just punched a sibling. This act is not one that you approve of, in fact you hate the action. This does not mean that you hate the child. No matter what actions the child takes, you still love the child.

The same can be true of all people. You can love who they "really" are while disapproving of or even hating their actions. Remember the action is not the whole person.

There is a great book by Ken Keyes that really explains this concept very well. It is called "Unconditional Love". I would suggest that you read it. It may help you to understand what the concept really is. I know that I didn't explain it nearly as well in a few paragraphs as he does in his book.

Answer 2

That is what God would like to see in us! Love for our neighbors and our enemies. Yes, it is very difficult to love someone who is bitter, angry and narrow minded.

It is easy to love someone who is beautiful, peaceful and agrees with us everyday. We usually call them our friends, but what value would our love hold if we loved ONLY people who were just like us? Not very much.

Suppose that a person loved and accepted people of every nation, of every political party, every color, creed and language.
Suppose that person would help everyone that needed help, encouragement, food, shelter, etc.
What would that person do for your inspiration level? Would he be a positive inspiration to you? Would you try to love others in order to be more accepting as that person was?

There was a man who loved everyone and walked the earth giving and loving everyone, even prostitutes and shifty tax collectors. As over tolerant as they may sound, wouldn't we be a better person by becoming more like Jesus?

Think about how many people would love us back if we loved them first.