On Hate and What It Is Not
In light of my last entry....
1hate 'hAt noun {Middle English, from Old English hete; akin to Old High German haz hate, Greek kEdos care} 1 a : intense hostility and aversion usually deriving from fear, anger, or sense of injury b : extreme dislike or antipathy : LOATHING
Last year, I was arguing with some in an LJ community who were claiming that a certain Christian group was a hate group because they were opposed to homosexual marriage. I was arguing that regardless of one's views on homosexual marriage, disagreeing with someone's lifestyle does not mean that one hates the people of that lifestyle.
It is becoming more and more difficult to find people who can understand that.
"Hate" is being redefined.
Hate is an emotion. It is something you feel. It can also be thoughts of hostility or violence or great dislike.
If I disagree with how you live, there is absolutely no guarantee that I am fearful of you, angry at you, hostile towards you, or even that I dislike you as a person.
What I hate is that this idea of "tolerance" has progressed to the point that if one group disagrees with another group the former is somehow labelled a hate group.
The most ironic thing of all this is that usually the ones doing the namecalling do so with the most hateful language and tone....