Dealing with Hatred

I do not believe that it will ever be possible to completely end hatred. Even the people who believe that they are against hatred, hate - hatred and its practicioners. Political correctness claims to seek to do away with hatred; and yet the politically correct are some of the most hateful people you'll know. Hatred will continue to exist, as will all else in human makeup; and while it can be reduced, I do not believe that it can ever be wiped out.

Christianity, Islam and Communism have all promised to be a path to peace and harmony. But what have they been doing? Naturally, fighting each other and everything else. There are any number of paths that could lead to global harmony if everyone followed them; the problem is twofold. One, each of these paths demand of people things that are wrong or that many wouldn't accept doing. And two, there are other competing paths that stand in their way.

As someone who's been hated by any number of people for any number of reasons, I do not see hatred as a virtue; I do however see it as inextricable. One's best bet is to take a two-pronged path: That of reducing hatred in self and in others through compassion and wisdom; and learning how to defend oneself and the people one cares about from hatred that may come. One has to be both a hawk and a dove, and one has to understand both war and peace. And then one can use the strength of the hawk to create and defend a peaceful situation.

In a survey of religious attitudes, it has been found that the young people are the least likely to believe the concept of God as a benevolent deity interested in people's well-being. There is a line about how sad it is to see a young pessimist; but a lot of these people have a clue. They have seen all sorts of things out there to negate the optimistic view of the world such as what was had by the baby boomers. The optimism that is associated with youth is in fact much more a function of generational character. Generation X was cynical when it was young and thinks itself competent and responsible now. My generation has struggled to reconcile conflicting social influences in an attempt to create coexistence. And the youth that are growing up now tend to have radical temperament, massive bullshit detectors and a murky worldview.

Some forms of hatred can be done away with fairly easily; others cannot. In both Christianity and Islam we see lots of hatred - against one another and against many other things ("lust," "conceit," "world," "sin," Jews, women, etc.) Each path claims to be the path to global harmony, and each has a long history of brutality. I do not need to say that Communism has a similar history as well.

An order that can actually work with real people is an order that recognizes human reality. And the reality here is: People will hate. There are things that one can do to reduce this, but not to end this altogether. Do what you can to reduce the hatred; and carry a big stick if hatred comes at you.