Why We Hate

[carpedm9587]

Our politics, these days, seems to me to be filled with hate. Many on the right (the Executive Branch included) express hate for "the left" and "Democrats." Many on the left express hate for "the right." I have been thinking a lot about that over the past few weeks, especially with the midterms coming up. I had that in mind when this came across my feed. I found some of these stories inspiring. If a Palestinian who's daughter was shot by the Israeli police can forgive the man who killed her, and continue on his work to bring Palestinians and Israeli's together, it is hard for me to justify any anger or hatred I may harbor.

I share it here in that spirit. I put it in the Civics Forum because it speaks to our current political climate, and the tenor of many of the posts here. Personally, I'm going to renew my commitment to civil discourse, and work on the underlying feelings as well.

Michel

[Mountain Man]

I find that the term "hate" has been thrown around so cavalierly lately that the word is almost without meaning.

[carpedm9587]

This article furthers the discussion a bit. It is an opinion piece from the NYT.

[carpedm9587]

I find that the term "hate" has been thrown around so cavalierly lately that the word is almost without meaning.

I don't find it a hard word to grasp. It refers to feelings of intense dislike or loathing for another person, group, or thing. It often expresses itself in anger, but anger does not always have to be associated with hate. Most of us "hate evil." Most of us "hate the enemy." So when someone labels another person or group as "evil" or "the enemy," I think it is fairly safe to interpret their message as a message of hate. We also more easily hate anyone that we have managed to objectify. So when a person is not a person - their just a "liberal" or a "conservative" or a "Democrat" or a "Republican," it is easier to hate them. I think we see too much of that all around us all the time.

I know I have been guilty of it. I know I'm going to work to try to change that mindset - and stop making sweeping statements about groups that encourage this kind of objectivizing.

[Cow Poke]

This really gets old... I hate some of the things the left is doing, therefore, I obviously hate those who are doing those things.

No. Just no.

[seer]

Our politics, these days, seems to me to be filled with hate. Many on the right (the Executive Branch included) express hate for "the left" and "Democrats." Many on the left express hate for "the right." I have been thinking a lot about that over the past few weeks, especially with the midterms coming up. I had that in mind when this came across my feed. I found some of these stories inspiring. If a Palestinian who's daughter was shot by the Israeli police can forgive the man who killed her, and continue on his work to bring Palestinians and Israeli's together, it is hard for me to justify any anger or hatred I may harbor.

I share it here in that spirit. I put it in the Civics Forum because it speaks to our current political climate, and the tenor of many of the posts here. Personally, I'm going to renew my commitment to civil discourse, and work on the underlying feelings as well.

Michel

Michel, was there any hate, even the hint of it, in our meeting even though on many issues we are polar opposites?

[oxmixmudd]

I don't find it a hard word to grasp. It refers to feelings of intense dislike or loathing for another person, group, or thing. It often expresses itself in anger, but anger does not always have to be associated with hate. Most of us "hate evil." Most of us "hate the enemy." So when someone labels another person or group as "evil" or "the enemy," I think it is fairly safe to interpret their message as a message of hate. We also more easily hate anyone that we have managed to objectify. So when a person is not a person - their just a "liberal" or a "conservative" or a "Democrat" or a "Republican," it is easier to hate them. I think we see too much of that all around us all the time.

I know I have been guilty of it. I know I'm going to work to try to change that mindset - and stop making sweeping statements about groups that encourage this kind of objectivizing.

I would add to this the fact that Hate and Anger both tend to obscure or mask Empathy and Compassion. How many women have been killed by their husbands because during that fit of anger he does not remember and can not feel his love for her. The more filled with hate and anger we are as a people, the less we can feel, express, or act on empathy or compassion, mercy or love.


Jim

[seer]

This really gets old... I hate some of the things the left is doing, therefore, I obviously hate those who are doing those things.

No. Just no.

That is the dividing line isn't it; hating or disliking the policies and actions of the left without personally hating them (who are God's image bearers). Not always easy...

[Cow Poke]

That is the dividing line isn't it; hating or disliking the policies and actions of the left without personally hating them (who are God's image bearers). Not always easy...

It's like the old cliche' "hate the sin but love the sinner".

I hate abortion, and I have spent many a morning on my knees in the front yard of the abortion clinic 30 miles from me that - PRAISE GOD - is no more! (It's now a pro-life pregnancy center)

I never ever ever entertained a hateful thought for those women who were going there for "family planning" services, but prayed for them faithfully.

[seer]

I never ever ever entertained a hateful thought for those women who were going there for "family planning" services, but prayed for them faithfully.

My ire was never focused on the women but the doctors and politicians who made it all possible.

[Cow Poke]

I got a kick out of the graphic they use...

red and blue.jpg

It's like they're implying that the Republicans (red) are punching the Democrats (blue) but the Democrats are being incredibly patient and tolerant and peaceful.

For the sarcastically impaired the following is said in jest

Why, there's even the RIGHT hand of the aggressor, against the LEFT hand of the peaceful liberal!

[carpedm9587]

This really gets old... I hate some of the things the left is doing, therefore, I obviously hate those who are doing those things.

No. Just no.

Actually, CP, I haven't pointed the finger at anyone. I have noted that we have a discourse in this country that is widely dominated by "hateful" speech. We use words like "evil" and "treasonous" and "spiteful" and so forth far too regularly. Listen to Mr. Trump at any of his rallies - and watch the faces of the people listening to him, and listen to what they cheer at. And he is packing stadiums with tens of thousands of people on a regular basis. He's held 49 of these since taking office, an average of one every 13 days. Then read the rhetoric coming from both sides - including a LOT of posts here.

I do believe that words matter. What we say and how we say it have an effect. When we ridicule, diminish, disparage, or trivialize, we are acting in a spirit of hatred. I look to MLK as a marvelous example of a man capable of calling out inequity without resorting to the language of hate. I wish I could say I was always like this man, but I certainly cannot. When I look at my own posts, I see examples of places where I have also spoken in a spirit of ridicule and condescension. I need to keep reminding myself to be better.

[guacamole]

I find that the line between hating the policy and not the person to be so thin as to be non-existent, when it's expressed so frequently in lines like the following: liberals are retarded, conservatives are bigots, etc. I find every side to be so hateful that it makes me think that there will be no possibility for constructive solutions. I'm sick of it. There used to be a center, but it has evaporated in the current climate. This is part of why I'm done with politics. By comparison, prostitution is just as righteous and twice as honest.

fwiw,
guacamole

[carpedm9587]

Michel, was there any hate, even the hint of it, in our meeting even though on many issues we are polar opposites?

In our meeting - no. Absolutely not. In our posts/exchanges, yes. I think that's a major difference, and one of the reasons I wanted to meet. I think it is too easy to slip into the language of hatred when the other person is a faceless set of bits arriving on our computer screen. It is harder when it is a person with wants, needs, and a story.

[carpedm9587]

I would add to this the fact that Hate and Anger both tend to obscure or mask Empathy and Compassion. How many women have been killed by their husbands because during that fit of anger he does not remember and can not feel his love for her. The more filled with hate and anger we are as a people, the less we can feel, express, or act on empathy or compassion, mercy or love.

Jim

As with many things - hate becomes a habit. It becomes familiar - comfortable - even defended. We can disagree with one another - and do so civilly, and even with a degree of love. After all, as people, we tend to want the same things. We may disagree widely on how to achieve those ends - but we all want happiness, safety, freedom, life, and an opportunity to learn and achieve. But labeling one another as "racist" and "gun-stealing" and "dishonest" and all of the rest of the things we do becomes a kind of familiar anger that cements us to our "herd" and becomes a basis for defending our warring factions.

At some point, we collectively need to say "enough!" We are more "one" than we are not. We are one species. We are one nation on one planet. We are more similar than we are different.