It is a psychological truth that people often “project” on to others what they are actually feeling or doing.  This emotionally immature pattern is only healed by first recognizing that it exists.  But while this has traditionally been true for only emotionally young people, it seems that it is now the common pattern that we find throughout our culture…especially in the world of political activism.

Look at the many obvious examples of this dysfunction.  The groomers who preach gender mutilation to children and claim that everyone should have a free choice as to their sexuality (and gender) are all too often physically violent in attacking those who wish to be left alone and live in their own world of heterosexuality and birth gender.  While they are tolerant of other choices, most people just want to live and let live.  But the transsexual groomers no longer seek tolerance or even acceptance of their chosen way of life; they demand that everyone, even children, become like them.

Is this tolerance, or is it a projection of hate towards others?

While Black Lives Matter was supposedly an organization formed to combat racism and promote tolerance, it quickly morphed into an organization of hate and violence.  Rather than promoting equality, it demanded that every white person bow down to them.  Who can ever forget the image of Nancy Pelosi and company kneeling to black racism?  BLM’s manifesto includes hatred spewed at Jews, Israel, the United States, and all things non-Black.

Although the Anti-Defamation League was founded to protect Jews from anti-Semitism, in recent years the ADL has itself become anti-Semitic, supporting hate mongers like Al Sharpton and CAIR, supporting BLM, condemning President Trump even though he facilitated the miraculous Abraham accords, and now attacking Elon Musk as an anti-Semite and calling for a boycott of his advertisers.  The last two are especially ironic given that Trump’s daughter and grandchildren are Jewish, and Shivon Zillis, the mother of Musk’s twins, is allegedly Jewish (making the children Jewish as well if it is true).  But the mission of the ADL is no longer what it once was, and instead of supporting American Jews and fighting anti-Semitism, it now supports anti-Semites and has changed its motto from protecting Jews to “fighting hate for good”.

And we need only to look at the actions of Joe Biden, who attacks Trump as an authoritarian at the same time that he makes progressively more executive mandates and dictates, and even vilifies half of Americans.

Projection is a dangerous psychological dysfunction, but it can and must be fought through exposing its hypocrisy at every opportunity.  Most people are not actually evil or bad, but this dysfunction deludes good people into projecting their own darkness on to others.  We must all show people like the activists above that they are actually manifesting what they seek to destroy.  Without anger, hate, or violence, we must all have the courage to speak calmly to people locked in their own projections and help them realize what they are really doing.  They may feel that they have good intentions, but their actions are creating evil.

This is not an easy task, but it is necessary if we want this nation to once again be a bastion of freedom and liberty for everyone.  By shining a light on these projections, we have the opportunity to start to have dialogues without prejudice and hate.  We may still disagree, but we all need to help others recognize that they are acting in ways that are inconsistent with their deeper values of respect and tolerance.  In so doing, we may be able to create a country that is less divided and more committed to internal peace.

If God created and accepts us all, perhaps we need to start taking care of each other without projecting our own failings on to anyone else.

May we all shine a light on each other that exposes hypocrisy, stops the projection of hate on to others, and leads our country and the world to true tolerance, acceptance, and respect for each individual.

Rabbi Michael Barclay is the Spiritual Leader of Temple Ner Simcha (www.NerSimcha.org) and the author of “Sacred Relationships:  Biblical Wisdom for Deepening Our Lives Together”.  He can be reached directly at Rabbi@NerSimcha.org, and followed on X as @Rabbi_Barclay

Graphic credit: Geralt Piabay license