Musings on hatred.
People treat hatred like it's a bad thing. The Nazis hated Jews, the KKK hates black people, the Mormon church hates gays. These are all bad things, we agree. However, didn't the Jews hate Hitler in return? Surely there are African Americans who despise the Klu Klux Klan. Undoubtedly, homosexuals have a bone to pick with the Church of Latter Day Saints. Don't they have every reason and right to? If something is bad, is it not worth hating?
There are people who would say that they hate cancer. Others would say this is an erroneous stance to take - not in defense of cancer, but in opposition to hatred. They may claim that cancer, as a decentralized disease, has no thought process or moral code, and thus cannot be blamed for its consequences. This, I would contend, is an erroneous position in that it conflates hatred with judgement of intent. Why should I be precluded from hating hurricanes that devastate and destroy, or earthquakes that end the lives of unsuspecting innocents? For what reason would society preclude me from feeling anger and rage at things with adverse effects on human affairs? Perhaps this mindset treats hatred as an action, a response with intended results. I hate not to turn the tides of a flood, or cure AIDS. I hate because there are things that deserve it. There are horrible, despicable things that exist in this world of ours, and it is only just that these things receive my ire. Not because heaping hatred upon a problem solves it, but ignoring it will make it worse.
Hatred can motivate - it can cause those who share the feeling to seek out and eradicate its source. Whether or not this is morally just rests on a variety of factors, all of which are naturally subjective. Of course, if criminals are hated and a society is motivated to take steps to apprehend and deter them, this would widely be accepted as just. The aforementioned hatred Nazis held was, conversely, the source of one of the worst atrocities humanity has committed against itself. So, has hatred become connoted with such events as to render it an absolute negative? Are we, as members of a functioning society, encouraged to love what is worthy, but only mildly disapprove of the scum among us? The undercurrent notion to this idea is that there is no one, nothing deserving of hatred. Every liar, every thief, every murderer and every rapist must be seen as an unfortunate delinquent, but a redeemable, not-so-bad person. Natural disasters happen, what can you do. Sickness, disease, death - ehh, that's life. Sucks, but oh well.
I find this sort of thinking abhorrent. Certainly, the reason why it has found so much purchase in people's minds is that it is easy; hatred is an exhausting endeavor, and it's far more simple to just be permissive and let things go. We should worry about ourselves and not get so worked up over other people's problems.
I tend to see this as fairly heartless. It is cold, it is apathetic. These are ideals that, at times, I have aspired to. It's simply easier, after all. Certainly, as a man filled with so much hate, it can feel like the bulk of my species deserves only the finest apathy. However, I just can't seem to stick with it. Terrible things take place, and I find it exceedingly difficult to have this knowledge enter my mind and not react to it. I have become jaded to much, certainly - but not everything. As time moves on, there are things that I grow to hate only more. Yes, I probably won't do much about these topics. After all, I have been advised to give up on them, to accept that I cannot change the world, "that's life."
I hate that kind of thinking, though.
Realistically, I must accept that there is a great deal that I cannot change, cannot battle, cannot even so much as dent. These facts do not drive me to indifference, however - they incite further hatred. What's odd to me is that this reaction is not the most common, sensible response among others. Take for instance child rape. It is near unanimously wrong - the mere fact that the caveat "near" must be used should be evidence enough for rage. Regardless, it is among the worst crimes a human being could commit. Yet, it continues to occur. Furthermore, knowledge of these events increases as information is more quickly shared over the internet, or as victims age and can finally reveal the transgressions against them. A person may state, upon learning that such monstrous acts have ever occurred, that he or she hates child rapists. As time goes on, this person may learn of more incidents of child rape. They may see a news report of an accused molester, or an article about the growing scandal of Catholic priests abusing their power. They may see a map online of how many convicted sexual offenders live in their neighborhood, and may even be greeted at the door by one who was court-ordered to make his or her presence known. After being inundated with all this horrifying data, a fellow human being may say to this person that people are fucked up, but they're always going to be fucked up, what can you do about it. They might say to the person that they heard a good joke recently, "What do JC Penny's and the Catholic Church have in common?"
"Boys pants, half off."
This could be humor as a defense mechanism, trying to cope with being surrounded by such monstrous acts. Or it could be a callous joke at the expense of the news story of the day, told because the recipient has no doubt heard of the events it references.
"That's life," the person could be told. "You can't let it get you down."
This person, who finds the act of sexually assaulting anyone, no less a child, to be intensely abhorrent, is instructed to not feel that way. He or she is advised that terrible things will always happen, and this is given in the voice of consolation. This person is expected to take in the knowledge that something he or she hates happens with alarming frequency, and use this knowledge to achieve calm acceptance. Something which is unforgivable, something truly evil, something that would incite murderous rage to anyone directly associated with a victim of it - this thing takes place every day, all over the world, and its practitioners are this person's neighbors. This person, he or she is expected to not be so enraged as to damn the entirety of the human race so that it might eradicate these demons that walk the earth in human flesh.
There is another person, who is afraid of snakes. One snake slithers by, and this other person jumps in fear. A hundred snakes enter the room, and this other person has a heart attack, he or she is so overwhelmed by terror.
Yet another person is charmed by panda bears. He or she finds them adorable. Show this person one picture, and he or she speaks, "Aww." This third person is led into a room with a hundred plush pandas, and he or she will squeal with delight, hugging them all with a giant smile.
But the first person, confronted with people he or she hates, is expected to stop feeling what he or she is entirely justified in feeling once presented with the overwhelming abundance of horror there is in the world.
Personally, this does not make any fucking sense. There are things in this world that are worth hating, terrible things that earn more disgust than a human being can express. To claim otherwise is at best callous, very likely heartless, and quite possibly insane. I understand that there are arguments for feeling that way, that there are very tempting reasons to subscribe to that mindset. Obviously I disagree, and I know for a fact there are people who feel I shouldn't. That's why I'm deciding to post this rambling diatribe - to get the reactions of people who most likely do not agree with me, and view me as overreacting, if not downright insane myself.
There are people who would say that they hate cancer. Others would say this is an erroneous stance to take - not in defense of cancer, but in opposition to hatred. They may claim that cancer, as a decentralized disease, has no thought process or moral code, and thus cannot be blamed for its consequences. This, I would contend, is an erroneous position in that it conflates hatred with judgement of intent. Why should I be precluded from hating hurricanes that devastate and destroy, or earthquakes that end the lives of unsuspecting innocents? For what reason would society preclude me from feeling anger and rage at things with adverse effects on human affairs? Perhaps this mindset treats hatred as an action, a response with intended results. I hate not to turn the tides of a flood, or cure AIDS. I hate because there are things that deserve it. There are horrible, despicable things that exist in this world of ours, and it is only just that these things receive my ire. Not because heaping hatred upon a problem solves it, but ignoring it will make it worse.
Hatred can motivate - it can cause those who share the feeling to seek out and eradicate its source. Whether or not this is morally just rests on a variety of factors, all of which are naturally subjective. Of course, if criminals are hated and a society is motivated to take steps to apprehend and deter them, this would widely be accepted as just. The aforementioned hatred Nazis held was, conversely, the source of one of the worst atrocities humanity has committed against itself. So, has hatred become connoted with such events as to render it an absolute negative? Are we, as members of a functioning society, encouraged to love what is worthy, but only mildly disapprove of the scum among us? The undercurrent notion to this idea is that there is no one, nothing deserving of hatred. Every liar, every thief, every murderer and every rapist must be seen as an unfortunate delinquent, but a redeemable, not-so-bad person. Natural disasters happen, what can you do. Sickness, disease, death - ehh, that's life. Sucks, but oh well.
I find this sort of thinking abhorrent. Certainly, the reason why it has found so much purchase in people's minds is that it is easy; hatred is an exhausting endeavor, and it's far more simple to just be permissive and let things go. We should worry about ourselves and not get so worked up over other people's problems.
I tend to see this as fairly heartless. It is cold, it is apathetic. These are ideals that, at times, I have aspired to. It's simply easier, after all. Certainly, as a man filled with so much hate, it can feel like the bulk of my species deserves only the finest apathy. However, I just can't seem to stick with it. Terrible things take place, and I find it exceedingly difficult to have this knowledge enter my mind and not react to it. I have become jaded to much, certainly - but not everything. As time moves on, there are things that I grow to hate only more. Yes, I probably won't do much about these topics. After all, I have been advised to give up on them, to accept that I cannot change the world, "that's life."
I hate that kind of thinking, though.
Realistically, I must accept that there is a great deal that I cannot change, cannot battle, cannot even so much as dent. These facts do not drive me to indifference, however - they incite further hatred. What's odd to me is that this reaction is not the most common, sensible response among others. Take for instance child rape. It is near unanimously wrong - the mere fact that the caveat "near" must be used should be evidence enough for rage. Regardless, it is among the worst crimes a human being could commit. Yet, it continues to occur. Furthermore, knowledge of these events increases as information is more quickly shared over the internet, or as victims age and can finally reveal the transgressions against them. A person may state, upon learning that such monstrous acts have ever occurred, that he or she hates child rapists. As time goes on, this person may learn of more incidents of child rape. They may see a news report of an accused molester, or an article about the growing scandal of Catholic priests abusing their power. They may see a map online of how many convicted sexual offenders live in their neighborhood, and may even be greeted at the door by one who was court-ordered to make his or her presence known. After being inundated with all this horrifying data, a fellow human being may say to this person that people are fucked up, but they're always going to be fucked up, what can you do about it. They might say to the person that they heard a good joke recently, "What do JC Penny's and the Catholic Church have in common?"
"Boys pants, half off."
This could be humor as a defense mechanism, trying to cope with being surrounded by such monstrous acts. Or it could be a callous joke at the expense of the news story of the day, told because the recipient has no doubt heard of the events it references.
"That's life," the person could be told. "You can't let it get you down."
This person, who finds the act of sexually assaulting anyone, no less a child, to be intensely abhorrent, is instructed to not feel that way. He or she is advised that terrible things will always happen, and this is given in the voice of consolation. This person is expected to take in the knowledge that something he or she hates happens with alarming frequency, and use this knowledge to achieve calm acceptance. Something which is unforgivable, something truly evil, something that would incite murderous rage to anyone directly associated with a victim of it - this thing takes place every day, all over the world, and its practitioners are this person's neighbors. This person, he or she is expected to not be so enraged as to damn the entirety of the human race so that it might eradicate these demons that walk the earth in human flesh.
There is another person, who is afraid of snakes. One snake slithers by, and this other person jumps in fear. A hundred snakes enter the room, and this other person has a heart attack, he or she is so overwhelmed by terror.
Yet another person is charmed by panda bears. He or she finds them adorable. Show this person one picture, and he or she speaks, "Aww." This third person is led into a room with a hundred plush pandas, and he or she will squeal with delight, hugging them all with a giant smile.
But the first person, confronted with people he or she hates, is expected to stop feeling what he or she is entirely justified in feeling once presented with the overwhelming abundance of horror there is in the world.
Personally, this does not make any fucking sense. There are things in this world that are worth hating, terrible things that earn more disgust than a human being can express. To claim otherwise is at best callous, very likely heartless, and quite possibly insane. I understand that there are arguments for feeling that way, that there are very tempting reasons to subscribe to that mindset. Obviously I disagree, and I know for a fact there are people who feel I shouldn't. That's why I'm deciding to post this rambling diatribe - to get the reactions of people who most likely do not agree with me, and view me as overreacting, if not downright insane myself.