Hate

What a strong word that is yet it seems that hate is driving so much of what is wrong in our world - a world teetering on the brink of disaster. 

In the spirit of this blog, I would like to examine what it is that has gone wrong... to find the "other hand" of this terrible problem. 

Surely it isn't wrong to dislike a lot of things that are going on around us these days. There is an awful lot to dislike - hate even. But as my mother told our son when he said "I hate raisins", my mom said You should say "I don't care for raisins". In the spirit of my mother's observation, I would like to suggest that we encourage everyone to be clear about what it is we "hate". 

Nobody can look into another person's mind. We don't know their history - the things that drive them to be the person they are. When they act in a certain way it would seem to be obvious that they believe they are acting in a rational way, given what they know, and what their life has brought them to believe. As we used to say, "God doesn't make junk."

When one person does something we hate we might 'call them out' about it. We might even think we hate that person but, remembering my mom's suggestion, it isn't about the raisins. It is about the taste of those raisins. That is what we don't care for. 

When a whole nation does something we hate, do we have to hate its population? By extension, do we have to act in hate to those who used to live in that nation or who pray in the same way as people whose nation did something we hate. In fact, what sense does it make to act in a hateful way to people we don't even know? 

This isn't a theoretical discussion. So many lives have been lost, not just in war, but in acts of retribution. Yet the people who die are almost never the people whose actions a person should hate. People die because gunmen and bombers hate anyone who looks like or prays like those who acted in a way they hate. 

What I don't know is how we can stop doing something I really do hate: pigeonholing people based on what we think we know about people like them. 

Just so we all know, I am not naive. I know that hate makes money for a small number of people of great influence. Never-the-less, we are the ones who react to what those few are selling. We allow what those few do or say to manipulate our emotions. We don't have to let that happen. 

I would love to know what can be done to spread the message: we, all of us, must stop this cycle of hate in order to save our world. There are much more important things that need to be done instead. 

Yes, of course, I am preaching to the choir here, but we have to start somewhere. Hate the acts done if you must but, better still, let's end hate in ourselves and, if we can, encourage others to do the same.